Resumen de Draghi’s dilemma and the ongoing failure of green deals: insights from Northvolt’s bankruptcy

Christian Sandström

• This article offers a critical analysis of the potential fallacies of EU Green Deal industrial policies, using the case study of the massive bankruptcy of Swedish battery producer Northvolt. The article argues that extensive government support and political connections enabled the company to attract huge funding and expand rapidly despite lacking the necessary technical expertise and ability to compete with China. This fostered a culture of rent-seeking and moral hazard, where political skill was valued over the creation of a commercially viable product. In conclusion, it argues that instead of ‘picking winners’, this approach ‘creates losers’; therefore, Europe should instead prioritise removing barriers such as overregulation and high taxes.