Less control for more impact? The evolution of EU Digital Infrastructures policy.

This paper examines the evolution of EU Digital Infrastructures (DI) policy over the past ten years, focusing on the shift from a predominantly neoliberal and regulatory approach to one that incorporates industrial policy (IP) elements. The analysis highlights how the EU pursued new policy objectives by loosening regulatory controls and introducing substantial financial instru-ments. This shift reflects a broader trend towards integrating loosely coupled policy instruments to address complex problem(s) situations. By employing both traditional and newly proposed typologies of policy instruments, this study provides a comprehensive overview of the changes in EU DI policy, offering insights into its increasing portfolio diversity and the implications for future policymaking.