The former president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, was invited to speak with the heads of state and government of the Twenty-seven about the report he presented in September on the subject and his recommendations for get out of the rut. The document will serve as a compass in the European legislature which is opening.
The European Union must act quickly and strongly, otherwise it will collapse, warns Mario Draghi. Is she capable of it?
The Twenty-Seven adopted in Budapest a twelve-point declaration on “a new European deal on competitiveness”. This statement emphasizes that “all instruments and policies must be operated in a comprehensive and coherent manner, both at national and European level”. There is talk of intensifying efforts to complete the internal market. Finally, to set up the European capital market to create a union of savings and investments, which would prevent European companies from leaving for the United States to find the means to finance themselves. To pursue a dual strategy of energy sovereignty and decarbonization, to invest in defense capabilities or even to launch “a revolution of simplification” regulations and administrative burden…
To encourage innovation, President Ursula von der Leyen promised that the next Commission would quickly present a proposal to remove administrative barriers for start-ups, by creating a special and unique administrative regime at European level for the 182,000 companies in the sector. Belgian Alexander De Croo insists on the need to resolve the problems of fragmentation when it comes to investment. The 800 billion euros of the post-Covid recovery plan “first and divided among the Twenty-seven”then, in Belgium, between the different entities of the country recalls the resigning Prime Minister. According to Mr. De Croo, rather than scattering, it would be preferable to follow the European strategy on microprocessors, which concentrates resources where they will produce the most effects. The company Imec, based in Belgium, was the beneficiary of a European investment of 2.7 billion euros.
The debate on joint borrowings postponed
The Draghi report insists on the need for financing, which it puts at 800 billion euros annually, coming from the private sector but also from the public sector. The Budapest Declaration speaks of the creation “new instruments” without clearly mentioning the conflicting question of new European loans, after those which had financed the post-Covid recovery plan. Germany, Austria, the Dutch and others are, for the moment, opposed to this idea. President von der Leyen herself refrains from broaching the subject, believing that the means to increase the European strike force are “l’augmentation du budget” et “the creation of new own resources”. The discussion will begin next year, when the Commission presents its proposal for a budgetary framework for the period 2028-2034. That the debate on joint loans, which the Germans and Dutch no longer want to hear about, did not take place in Budapest “is a good thing”, believes Mr De Croo, because “this is the subject that would be used by some to block everything.”
The Union will have to force its nature and act quickly. “Today’s conversation showed the sense of urgency”assured the Belgian Charles Michel, who chaired his last European Council. “It’s one to midnight.” What will happen to the sense of urgency when the Twenty-Seven tackle the issues that anger and divide? “Europe can no longer postpone its decisions. Many important decisions have been postponed because we were waiting for a consensus. The consensus did not come”warned Mr. Draghi, pointing out that the return of Donald Trump to the White House is an additional argument in this sense.
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