Identifying European public goods: economic foundations and practical challenges

Bulletin No. 257, article 2. Several studies, including the 2024 Draghi report, find that a significant share of the European Union’s (EU) public investment requirements concerns European public goods, requiring EU wide governance and financing. This article explores the public goods that could benefit from such governance, such as those related to defence and the climate. Nevertheless, the diversity of proposals and analyses suggests that the notion of a European public good is evolving and does not enjoy unanimous consensus. …