How important is the European Union for making things better?
The European Commission (2010) in 'Europe 2020' has launched the Innovation Union 'to improve framework conditions and access to finance for research and innovation so as to insure that innovative ideas can be turned into products and services that create jobs'. There is a second so-called flagship initiative relevant to industry called  An industrial policy for the globalisation era: to improve the business environment notably for SMSEs, and to support the development of a strong and sustainable industrial base able to compete globally'. The EU has invented a Common Agricultural Policy catering to some 6% of the total labor force (it is also the most important budget item of the EU). A 'Common Industrial Policy' catering to some 26% of the labor force (not counting producer services) could also make sense.
The Lisbon Strategy, the predecessor of 'Europe 2020' has been grosso modo a failure. Even the Commission staff in its 'pro domo'  evaluation had hinted at this: 'Whilst much has been achieved, the overall pace of implementing the reforms was both slow and uneven...' Notre Europe (2010) has pointed out thatb the political failures affecting the functioning of the Lisbon Strategy have not been analyzed by the Commission hence the risk of repeating the same mistakes.