Open Markets Institute Europe is a think tank working to safeguard democracy and human liberty from concentrated corporate power. We do so through a combination of rigorous research and historical analysis, policy proposals that draw on both time-tested and novel approaches, strategic advocacy, and coalition building.

We believe that the balanced distribution of corporate power – and careful governance of that power – provides a foundation for the full flourishing of the individual, shared prosperity, and societal resilience. When economic power becomes too concentrated — whether in foreign hands or Europe’s own internal market — it threatens basic rights and freedoms, distorts politics, suppresses innovation, increases the cost of living, harms workers and entrepreneurs, and limits Europe’s ability to determine its own future.

Europe today faces a two-front challenge. In critical sectors, Europe has grown dependent on a small number of foreign monopolists, creating dangerous exposure to external coercion and extreme structural vulnerabilities. At the same time, rising consolidation within Europe’s internal market is concentrating private power in ways that weaken both democratic accountability and economic dynamism.

These risks are especially acute in markets that shape the flow of news and information. Centralised control of essential communications platforms, digital advertising systems, and media outlets — whether by foreign technology giants or local media oligarchs —distorts public debate, weakens independent journalism, and erodes the foundations of democratic life.

Fortunately, Europe’s governments already possess many of the tools they need to address these risks. But too often in recent years, they have failed to fulfil their responsibilities. At Open Markets, we believe the time has come for European policymakers to relearn how to govern markets to sustain innovation, opportunity, resilience, and ultimately the functioning of democracy itself.