Lagarde: Draghi set a leadership example, now Member States must do the same

Brussels – Mario Draghi has shown the way forward in his competitiveness report. It is now up to all governments, without exception, to decide what to do. The President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, is pressing the national governments of Europe, and those who truly hold the reins in this confederation-style Union. It is the heads of state and government who will have to provide answers: “They are the ones who must decide whether this moment becomes another missed opportunity, or another step in Europe’s construction,” Lagarde stressed at the award ceremony for the Charlemagne Prize, awarded to Draghi this year precisely for his work on boosting competitiveness.

Lagarde urges a burst of pride and a sense of responsibility. She begins by looking back to explain Europe’s structural and historical limitations. She briefly outlines the period from 800 to 814, which marked the height of Charlemagne’s empire. “What had appeared to be a moment of European unity became, in historical terms, only that: a moment,” said the ECB President, who then clarified: “Charlemagne’s achievement depended, to an extraordinary degree, on Charlemagne himself. But the institutions beneath it were not strong enough to survive the shock of his absence.” Translated: “Leadership is not enough.” This means, Lagarde explains further, that “the task of statesmanship is to turn decisive moments into institutions that endure.”

 https://www.eunews.it/2025/09/16/un-anno-dopo-il-rapporto-draghi/ 

Hence, the call to action. In Europe, the true leader is Draghi, and Lagarde acknowledges this publicly. The “whatever it takes” declaration by the former Governor of the Bank of Italy was a key moment in recent history: “His commitment to do ‘whatever it takes’ to preserve the euro, within the ECB’s mandate, became the turning point of the crisis” for the EU’s economy and its single currency. “It was an act of institutional leadership: the point at which the central bank made it clear that the euro was an irreversible commitment. But it was also an act of personal leadership.”

 Now this example of leadership must come from elsewhere, namely the capitals. Because “Mario can diagnose the problem. He can use his authority to break complacency. But he cannot, from outside office, build the institutions that Europe lacks. That responsibility lies with Europe’s leaders.” Lagarde calls for the overdue Draghi report to be put into practice. “Now Europe’s leaders must…build what endures”, namely, solid institutions and a European Union capable of keeping pace with history. “What they need is the courage to act.”