Europe’s favourite technocrat, ex Italian premier and ex-central banker of the EU, Mario Draghi, receive thunderous applause for a speech he gave in Rimini at the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples organised by the Communion and Liberation (CL) Catholic movement on August 22nd.
In his speech, Draghi lamented about the decaying state of Europe’s political and economic power and appealed for further integration in the EU to achieve the full potential of Europe.
Draghi warned that economic growth in Europe in the last thirty years has been lower than the rest of the world and that Europe has failed to rise to its potential as a global power. He said that despite the fact that Europe is the largest sponsor of Ukraine, it is the United States which is leading talks between Ukraine and Russia and Europe has been missing in action on the situation on Iran and Gaza. However, Draghi noted that it was positive that European leaders were united in a meeting at the White House on Ukraine, showing that Europe can actually unite on European issues.
On the other hand, Draghi said that for Europe to achieve its status as a power on the international stage it must look for further integration and build on common agreements and causes. Specifically, Draghi said that “Destroying the integration of Europe to return to national sovereignty would only expose us even more to the will of great powers”.
Draghi also lamented on the EU’s trade deal with the US in which tariffs have been imposed on European products. In order for Europe to achieve its full economic potential, more large intra-national projects need to be implemented for big enterprises with common EU funding. In his speech Draghi emphasised on the production of semiconductors and chips which requires massive investment that is missing in Europe. Draghi also proposed for a single judicial system and business registry in Europe which would prevent European companies having to open their affiliates in each and every EU country: this, he said would help small companies as it alleviates their bureaucratic costs.
Draghi ended his speech on an optimistic note, saying that Europe had broken previous taboos by creating common debt and coordinating efforts during the Covid pandemic, though these measures were taken only in response to crises. Now, he argued, it is time to act with the same unity in confronting the realities of our changing times.
Newsroom
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