Yesterday (16th), former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi made a public speech again after several months, saying that the EU needs radical changes.
According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Mario Draghi is an Italian economist, scholar and banker. He was President of the European Central Bank from 2011 to 2019 and Prime Minister of Italy from February 2020 to October 2021.
In 2012, when the eurozone experienced a severe debt crisis, then ECB President Mario Draghi showed his determination to "do whatever it takes" to successfully defend the euro and stabilize the market. As a result, Draghi enjoys an excellent reputation in the international and EU economic and financial fields.
·“ The world has changed, and the EU needs a fundamental change"
Commissioned by the European Commission, Draghi is currently compiling a report on "EU competitiveness".
Yesterday, Draghi spoke at the EU Social Rights Conference, where he put the issue of competitiveness back in focus.
La Repubblica
"The EU needs to make fundamental changes. "Our investment rules are based on a world that no longer exists, that is, the world before the pandemic, before the war in Ukraine, before the crisis in the Middle East," Draghi said. Now we are back in a world of great power competition. ”
Draghi said it was a world that "surprised us" and that "there are other countries that don't play by the rules."
He also made a special mention of China. Draghi said China is trying to secure access to the necessary resources in the new energy sector, but "this rapid expansion of supply has led to serious overcapacity in several industries and threatens our industry." ”
Draghi then spoke about the need to accelerate European integration and stressed that cooperation could be strengthened and capital markets could be established among only a few willing member states, if not all of the EU's 27 member states.
Pixabay network
Draghi added that the transformation of the European economy must be achieved by relying on a decarbonized energy system, an integrated European defense, and a leading position in the most innovative areas.
He also cited data that the EU lags behind the United States and China in the global technology and telecommunications industries, pointing out the consequences of blocked EU integration.
He believes that the EU should follow the example of the United States and use large-scale industrial policies to attract high-value manufacturing capacity, and what the EU lacks at present is a global strategy to respond in multiple areas.
Draghi's report, which is being prepared in June, said: "I'm going to propose radical changes in the report, and that's what we need." ”
Why did Draghi reappear?
Since stepping down as Italy's prime minister, Draghi has been shy about his future plans.
The agenda of the extraordinary meetings of the European Council on Wednesday and Thursday (17-18) is focused on the "New Competitiveness Agreement". The agreement will set the political agenda for the election of a new legislature in the EU in early June.
Xinhua
With European elections less than two months away, Draghi appears to be one of the candidates for the next European Commission president. (The President of the European Commission will be nominated by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament)
In fact, there are no favourites in the current EU leadership elections: the candidacies of the current European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the current President of the European Parliament Metzola have not attracted enough attention.
The government leaders of the major EU countries are also not strong enough. For example, Macron is beleaguered in France, Scholz's popularity in Germany is declining rapidly, and Meloni is being questioned for her extremist allies in Italy and abroad.
Against this backdrop, the highly influential Draghi has once again come into the EU's sights.
Earlier it was reported that French President Emmanuel Macron plans to support Draghi to take over the presidency of the European Commission. And for Italian Prime Minister Meloni, having an Italian at the head of the European Union is undoubtedly good news.
The official website of the Italian Prime Minister's Office
Of course, whether Draghi will "come out of the mountain" again is still only at the stage of speculation. But there is no doubt that his speech proposes a direction of governance.
Draghi said we must unite like never before.
Now, his proposal is on the table – the "Draghi Plan" for Europe.
(I'm sure it's a little strange, but I'm not sure what I'm thinking. More than 100,000 people have been left in the hospital.