According to CNA, speaking at a high-level conference titled “One year after the Draghi report: what has changed in Brussels?”, former ECB president and Italian prime minister Mario Draghi said Europe is moving too slowly to stay competitive.
“A year on from my 400-page report, citizens and companies appreciate the diagnosis, priorities and action plans, but they also express growing frustration,” he warned. “They are frustrated by how slowly the EU moves. They see us failing to match the speed of change elsewhere. They are ready to act, but fear governments have not grasped the seriousness of the moment.”
Draghi’s message was stark: “Europe is losing ground and time,” he said. “The European growth model is weakening. Vulnerabilities are multiplying, and our inertia is costly.” Citing a tougher global trade environment, with US tariffs “at their highest since Smoot-Hawley” (the 1930 US tariff law) and China sharpening its competitiveness, he argued Europe has yet to find a rapid response. “Our dependence on the US for defence and on China for critical raw materials constrains us,” he said, adding that “Europe cannot keep relying on a system that does not allow it to move fast.”
On fiscal capacity, Draghi noted: “Public investment has almost doubled, from 24% to 43% of total cost, yet debt continues to rise, reaching 93% of GDP. There is no room for further delay.”
Tech gap and red tape
“Technology is the new arms race and Europe is lagging,” Draghi said, highlighting artificial intelligence. “Over the past year, the US created 40 large AI models, China 15, and the EU only 3.” While uptake by European firms is improving, “we start from a much lower base.” The fix, he argued, is a true ‘single market’ for innovation: “We need a real single market where innovative businesses can operate without obstacles,” he said. “Bureaucracy and excessive regulation are choking innovation.” He added: “The GDPR has increased data costs by 20% for European companies,” calling for radical simplification to accelerate growth.
Energy as a competitiveness test
Draghi called energy the next big hurdle: “Gas prices are still four times higher than in the US, while electricity demand from data centres will rise by 70% by 2030.” Without “rapid investment in renewables, nuclear and interconnected grids,” he warned, “the transition to a high-tech economy will stall.” He also urged joint gas purchasing: “Europe must buy gas collectively to lower costs.”
A tougher industrial strategy
He pressed for a more assertive EU industrial policy: “The US and China use every tool to boost their industries. Europe cannot fall behind.” That means more coordinated public financing, stronger public procurement and competition rules that permit consolidation in strategic sectors. “Europe must learn from Japan’s example, where the government invested $12 billion in a single semiconductor project, while the EU fragments its funding across dozens of small programmes.”
Draghi closed with a call to action: “Europe must stop excusing its delays. We need concrete timelines, concrete outcomes, and a new mindset,” he said. “Europe must act as it did with the single market and the euro: with clear goals, hard work and political resolve.” His final warning was blunt: “If we do not do what is needed now, Europe risks falling behind for good.”
Commission maps next phase of Draghi plan
President von der Leyen cast the Draghi report as a “roadmap for action,” arguing the new Commission has “hit the ground running” on Europe’s competitiveness with a Competitiveness Compass and moves like the Clean Industrial Deal, AI gigafactories, a revamped state-aid regime, cheaper-energy measures and six red-tape-cutting packages. She pointed to targeted plans for autos, chemicals and steel, record defence investment, and efforts to deepen the Single Market and scale start-ups. Looking ahead, she flagged a proposed €400 billion Competitiveness Fund, a 2028 roadmap to remove Single Market barriers, a Battery Booster package, and further simplification on digital and military mobility. “There cannot be business as usual until we get it all done,” she said, tying the agenda back to Draghi’s call for speed and scale.
