Dublin European Law Institute

L-R: Professor Dáire Keogh (President, Dublin City University), H.E. Nicola Faganello (Ambassador of Italy to Ireland), Minister Thomas Byrne TD (Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence), Professor Enrico Letta (Former Prime Minister of Italy), Ms. Michela Linda Magrì (Director, Italian Cultural Institute, Dublin), Professor Federico Fabbrini (Full Professor of European Law and Founding Director of the Dublin European Law Institute and Brexit Institute) Photo: Kyran O'Brien

Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence COMPETE launched by Enrico Letta

16/02/2026

COMPETE Launch 1

The Centre was launched at an event in The Helix on Dublin City University’s Glasnevin Campus, with keynote speeches by Prof Enrico Letta, former Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of State Thomas Byrne TD.

COMPETE (Competitiveness, Opportunity and Money: Promoting the Economic Transformation of the EU) is the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at Dublin City University, coordinated by the Dublin European Law Institute (DELI) – funded by a €100,000-grant awarded by the European Commission.

Led by Professor Federico Fabbrini, the Centre brings together DELI’s in-house expertise in EU law, politics, and economics to examine how the EU’s regulatory, fiscal, and financial frameworks shape competitiveness and economic transformation.

Prof Fabbrini said;

"The Dublin European Law Institute, of which I am the Founding Director, is delighted to welcome a keynote speaker of the caliber of Enrico Letta. His high-level report on the future of the EU internal market provides the roadmap for the research and policy agenda our our new Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence COMPETE, on economic competitiveness, that we kick-off on Monday 16 February"

Prof Federico Fabbrini speaking at the COMPETE launch.

Prof Federico Fabbrini Photo: Kyran O'Brien

A high-level event was held to mark the launch of COMPETE on Monday 16 February, including a keynote address by Enrico Letta, Former Prime Minister of Italy and Author of ‘Much More than a Market’, a report commissioned by the European Commission and other EU institutions. Mr Letta’s report has been influential in defining the EU roadmap to integrate and deepen the internal market, in pair with another high-level report on competitiveness written by Mario Draghi. Ireland, which will hold the Presidency of the Council of the EU from July 2026, has already indicated its plans to make the Letta and Draghi agenda the core of its EU and economic policy action. Mr Letta presented his new matrix for completing the single market under the new slogan 'One Europe, One Market' endorsed by the 27 EU leaders in Belgium last week.

Speaking at the event, Enrico Letta said;

“Strengthening and integrating Europe, moving from Single Market to One Market, is the most effective response to Trump challenges to Europe"

Mr Enrico Letta speaking at the launch of COMPETE.

Enrico Letta addresses the media at the event in The Helix Photo: Kyran O'Brien

Reflecting the priorities set out in the Draghi and Letta reports, COMPETE focuses on three core drivers of competitiveness: Regulation, Public Money, and Private Money. Through conferences, seminars, blogs, podcasts, Working Papers, and policy briefs, the Centre will produce policy-relevant analysis and shares it with policymakers, scholars, and the wider public.

More information on COMPETE can be found on the Centre’s website.

L-R: Professor Federico Fabbrini (Full Professor of European Law and Founding Director of the Dublin European Law Institute and Brexit Institute, DCU), Mr Massimo Fabio (Partner, Head of Trade & Customs, KPMG Italy), Mr Danny McCoy (Chief Executive Officer of Ibec), Prof. Enrico Letta, Dr. Christy Ann Petit (Assistant Professor of European Banking and Finance Law, DCU), Mr Valerio Scollo (Partner, GSK Stockmann), Professor John Doyle (Vice President for Research, DCU)

We gratefully acknowledge the support of our event sponsors, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and KPMG Italy, and our institutional sponsors GSK Stockmann and Ibec.