Wealth & Money Quote by John Hutton

“Better regulation” is the kind of phrase that pretends to be neutral while smuggling in a whole philosophy of government. John Hutton’s line reads like managerial common sense, but its real intent is political triage: recast the EU not as a rule-making machine but as a competitiveness engine. The key verb is “ensure.” Regulation isn’t being debated as a democratic choice with trade-offs; it’s being tasked with serving a pre-set outcome: a “dynamic and innovative economy.” In other words, the yardstick for good governance becomes economic performance, not necessarily social protection, labor rights, or environmental precaution.

The subtext is aimed at a familiar European anxiety: that Brussels is synonymous with friction, not freedom; paperwork, not possibility. “Modern” functions as a quiet rebuke to anything that looks like the old EU bargain of managed markets and thick safety nets. “Relentlessly focuses” borrows the cadence of corporate strategy decks, suggesting discipline and urgency, and implying that previous EU priorities were diffuse, sentimental, or captured by special interests.

Context matters: this is the post-1990s, post-Lisbon-Agenda rhetorical universe where Europe tries to talk itself into being Silicon Valley with better public transit. Hutton’s formulation is designed to reassure business constituencies and centrist voters that regulation won’t be a brake on growth. It’s also a defensive move: “better,” not “less,” regulation. That single adjective is doing diplomatic work, promising reform without admitting deregulation, and making a contested ideological project sound like mere administrative housekeeping.