Europe needs to significantly increase investment as part of a “new industrial strategy” to remain competitive with the United States and reduce dependence on China, according to a new report on EU competitiveness.
Last year, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asked Mario Draghi, former Italian prime minister and head of the European Central Bank, to outline ways to improve competitiveness amid growing global instability and economic challenges.
His report published on Monday calls for an additional annual investment of at least 750 billion euros, nearly five per cent of the EU’s gross domestic product. Draghi acknowledged that this would be “unprecedented” as it represented a greater impetus than the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II.
For the first time since the Cold War, we must genuinely fear for our self-preservation, and the reason for a unified response has never been so compelling.
His project for “radical change,” based on some 170 proposals, emphasises the need to close the “innovation gap” with both the United States and China.
Draghi noted the EU’s weakness in new technologies that would drive future growth, with only four European companies among the world’s top 50 technology companies.
