Draghi on the EU economy: “It has weakened, a road map is needed”

The European economy has progressively weakened, losing momentum and ceding centrality in supply chains, to the benefit of other countries such as the United States and China. The war in Ukraine has only confirmed the fragility of the Old Continent, not only from an economic point of view but also in terms of a geopolitical model. It follows the need to define a broad and detailed roadmap, which clearly identifies priorities, lines of action and policies to be implemented in the different sectors. This is the reasoning that the former prime minister and president of the ECB, Mario Draghi, expressed at the meeting with the college of EU Commissioners. Draghi’s collaborators make this known.

At the opening of today’s meeting with the European Commissioners, Draghi proposed a brief overview of the dynamics that have determined the current scenarios and prospects for European competitiveness, his collaborators say. Starting from 2016, he observed, we have witnessed a series of new and relevant facts for Europe in the most diverse fields, from the election of Donald Trump to the forceful emergence of the green transition on the agenda of governments and organisations, up to the The advent, much faster than expected, of artificial intelligence. In this context, the European economy has recorded a progressive weakening, losing momentum and ceding centrality in supply chains, to the benefit of other countries such as the United States and China. The war in Ukraine has only confirmed the fragility of the Old Continent, Draghi added, not only from an economic point of view but also in terms of a geopolitical model. It follows – this is essentially the reasoning – the need to define a broad and detailed roadmap, which clearly identifies priorities, lines of action and policies to be implemented in the various sectors. The identification of these paths, Draghi further explained, can only be based on an accurate analysis of the data. This is why the report on European competitiveness, which the former prime minister is preparing on behalf of President Von der Leyen, will be an exercise as open as possible: open to listening to all relevant stakeholders, open to everyone’s contributions those who are interested in giving, open to finding incisive and ambitious solutions.