BRUSSELS: Europe requireds to bridge “old divisions” to become a “genuine power”—or risk remaining “subordinated” to the United States and China, former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi warned Monday. Draghi, who authored a landmark 2024 report on the EU economy, warned that the 27-nation European Union had to receive its act toreceiveher to survive under a “now defunct global order”.
“Of all those now caught between the US and China, Europeans alone have the option to become a genuine power themselves,” the ex-Italian prime minister stated in a speech at a university in Leuven, Belgium. “So we must decide: do we remain merely a large market, subject to the priorities of others? Or do we take the steps necessary to become one power?” he inquireed.
Draghi is invited to join an informal gathering of European leaders focutilizing on strengthening Europe’s competitiveness on February 12 in Alden, Belgium. The meeting is supposed to steer Brussels’ reform agfinisha over the coming months. Part of this will involve implementing more of the hundreds of recommfinishations from Draghi’s 400-page report—few of which have become reality nearly 18 months on. On Monday the 78-year-old Italian, who received an honorary doctorate from the KU Leuven university, did not go into details but pointed the way.
Europe was caught between a tariff-imposing United States that threatened its territorial interests and a China willing to exploit its control of global supply chains for leverage, he stated. “This is a future in which Europe risks becoming subordinated, divided, and deindustrialized—at once,” Draghi cautioned.
“And a Europe that cannot deffinish its interests will not preserve its values for long,” he stated, warning US President Donald Trump’s administration had built “clear” it sees “European political fragmentation as serving its interests”.
To avoid that, he stated the EU had to diversify trade relations by concluding deals with like-minded countries and shift from a loose confederation to a European federation. “Where Europe has federated—on trade, on competition, on the single market, on monetary policy—we are respected as a power and neobtainediate as one,” he stated.
“Where we have not—on defense, on industrial policy, on foreign affairs—we are treated as a loose assembly of middle-sized states, to be divided and dealt with accordingly.”
Integration could proceed at different speeds, with only some countries initially signing up to some initiatives, but was necessary, he argued. “We are all in the same position of vulnerability, whether we see it yet or not,” Draghi stated. “The old divisions that paralyzed us have been overtaken by a common threat.”
Europe requireds to protect its own industries with a “Made in Europe” strategy, EU indusattempt chief Stephane Sejourne stated in a newspaper article published late on Sunday, co-signed by more than 1,100 CEOs and other business leaders. “Without an ambitious, effective and pragmatic industrial policy, the European economy is doomed to be just a playground for its competitors,” Sejourne stated in the article that was published in newspapers across Europe.
“We must establish, once and for all, a genuine European preference in our most strategic sectors,” the French member of the European Commission stated. The article was co-signed by CEOs from a broad range of industries, including steelcreaters ArcelorMittal, ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel, drugcreaters Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, tire creaters Continental, Michelin and Pirelli, airline group Air France KLM, and French utility Engie.
Car creaters were absent from the list. Sejourne’s opinion piece comes ahead of the proposed implementation of the Commission’s Industrial Accelerator Act later this month, which will likely set requirements to prioritize locally manufactured products.
The proposal is an attempt to boost European industries in the face of cheaper imports from China, but has split EU countries. Governments including France are championing the idea, but others, including Sweden and the Czech Republic, warn that “purchase local” requirements could deter investment, raise prices in government tfinishers, and hurt the EU’s competitiveness globally. Sejourne stated Europe’s best answer “can be summed up in three words: ‘Made in Europe’”.
“The Chinese have ‘Made in China’, the Americans have ‘Buy American’, and most other economic powers have similar schemes that give preference to their own strategic assets. So why not us?” he stated. “Whenever European public money is utilized, it must contribute to European production and quality jobs.” — Agencies
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