EU, Draghi ready for revolution: “We need radical change”

Mario Draghi all out to revolutionize the European Union. The former Prime Minister, in his speech at the high-level conference on the European Pillar of Social Rights in La Hulpe, sent some signals of shock to Brussels: “We need a European Union that is adapted to today’s world and of tomorrow. In the report that the President of the Commission asked me to prepare, I will propose a radical change. This is what we need. I believe that the political cohesion of our Union requires that we act together. Most of us will be aware that political cohesion itself is now threatened by changes in the rest of the world. Restoring our competitiveness is not something we can achieve alone, or just by beating each other, it requires us to act as a European Union as we have never done before.”

“To ensure coherence between the different political instruments, we should be able to – Draghi said to La Hulpe – now develop a new strategic instrument for the coordination of economic policies. And if we find that this is not feasible, in specific cases, we should be prepared to consider proceeding with a subset of Member States. For example, enhanced cooperation in the form of a 28th regime could be a way forward for the CMU to mobilize investments.”

Draghi looks to the USA as a model for continental growth: “The United States is using a large-scale industrial policy to attract high-value national manufacturing capabilities within its borders, including that of European companies, while the use of protection means exclude competitors and leverage its geopolitical power to reorient and protect supply chains. We – he points out and concludes – have never had the possibility of stipulating an equivalent industrial pact at the European Union level, even if the Commission has done everything in its power to fill this gap as such. Despite the number of positive initiatives underway, we still lack a comprehensive strategy on how to respond in multiple areas. We lack a strategy on how to keep pace with rising costs to achieve leadership in new technologies.”