Draghi and his think tank rebuke the EU; “We are heading toward decline, action is needed”

Brussels – “Decline is not inevitable, but it is the direction we are heading unless we take urgent action.” Mario Draghi once again lashes out at Europe’s national governments, warning leaders and backing them into a corner. If the worst were to happen, it would be because of them and their complacency in the face of a world that has completely changed. This is the message entrusted to the Rhine Group, the new think-tank co-chaired by Draghi and Patrick Collison – co-founder and chief executive of Stripe, one of the tech entrepreneurs most interested in the relationship between innovation, science, and growth – and comprising high-profile figures, including company chief executives, heads of regulatory bodies, former ministers and former presidents of the Republic. 

Draghi has tried to call Europe back to order and to action — not only through his report, the one on a new twelve‑star competitiveness that he was asked to produce, but also by reminding leaders that, a year after the report’s presentation, the EU had shown little responsiveness and taken few actions – in the face of the many challenges characterising this turn of the century and which are all the more likely to shape the future. Now he reiterates that the EU must finally deliver the change of pace that is still nowhere in sight.

 “In every emerging technology that will shape the coming decades, Europe is weak,” reads the message published on the Rhine Group homepage. To give an idea of the situation, one need only recall that “of the fifty largest technology companies in the world, only four are European.” There are no real alternatives. Either we sit idly by, or “the alternative is to do what Europe has done before: compete, build, and grow again.”

 https://www.eunews.it/en/2024/11/08/draghi-to-eu-leaders-no-more-postponing-decisions/

The former Italian Prime Minister and his new team are calling for action. The new Draghi Club aims to be as clear as possible: “The stakes are existential. If stagnation continues, the continent will progressively lose the ability to fund the core obligations of a modern state: defence, public healthcare, pensions, education, climate investments and safety nets for those who lose their jobs.”

The think-tank confirms the crisis in confidence in the political class, both past and present. The former is criticised for having deluded itself, whilst the latter is criticised for failing to grasp the gravity of the situation: the EU is now suffering from structural problems, but “for decades, a favourable world cushioned this decline.” European states lulled themselves into a false sense of security by believing that “trade grew under multilateral rules. The American security umbrella freed up defence budgets. Dependencies seemed mutual and hence harmless.” All this is now a thing of the past, and what is more, “China has become a fiercer competitor, in third markets and inside Europe itself.” 

Then comes the jab, which is more of a criticism than a warning: “Europe is in a harder place than when The Future of European Competitiveness report was released.” A rebuke to all the heads of state and government who have dithered, wasted time and wavered. The result now is that “the European growth model is fading, and we are increasingly at the mercy of external events we do not control.” This is something we cannot afford. “Europe’s citizens are asking their leaders to raise their eyes from daily concerns toward a common destiny, and to grasp the scale of the challenge.” The Rhine Group aims “to be one of the places where this work begins.”