RIMINI (ITALPRESS/MNA) – “For years the EU believed that its economic weight, with 450 million consumers, would automatically translate into geopolitical power and influence in trade relations. This year will be remembered as the one in which that illusion came to an end. We had to accept U.S. tariffs, and we were pushed by our own ally to increase military spending – a decision perhaps necessary, but not in this form or at this pace.”
Speaking at the 46th Meeting in Rimini, former Prime Minister Mario Draghi continued, “the EU played only a marginal role in peace negotiations over Ukraine. It was a mere spectator even as Iranian nuclear sites were bombed and the massacre in Gaza escalated.”
According to Draghi, “Europe must move from being a spectator, or at best a supporting actor, to becoming a protagonist. That means reshaping its political organization, which is inseparable from its ability to meet economic and strategic goals. Economic reforms remain essential.”
“Europe is the best opportunity we have for a future of peace and security. And as a democracy, it is you, it is us, the Europeans who set the priorities,” Draghi said.
On fiscal policy, Draghi repeated his distinction between “good debt and bad debt,” but warned that in some areas national-level borrowing is no longer sufficient. He argued that only common European debt can finance large-scale projects in defense, energy, and emerging technologies.
The former ECB president also pointed to a “brutal wake-up call” from Donald Trump, which he said reshaped relations with the U.S. “There is now a political, social, and psychological climate that gives hope for a new kind of political organization. We must learn to cooperate. Rigidity and passivity breed inaction – and that, as wève seen over the last 10-15 years, is Europès worst enemy.”
“It is not surprising that skepticism toward Europe has reached new heights,” Draghi added. “But it is worth asking what lies at the heart of this skepticism. In my view, it is not directed at the values on which Europe was founded, but rather at the EU’s ability to defend those values. And that skepticism is partly justified: political structures are designed to address the challenges of their time, and when those challenges change, the structures themselves must change”.
– Foto IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
