Mario Draghi, on the stage of the auditorium set up by the Belgian European Presidency for the meeting on EU social rights, returns to shake Europe.
Faced with a world "that is changing", the Union needs "a radical change" and to act united "like never before", stressed Draghi . An appeal that in the next few weeks will end up in his report ready to be revealed after the European elections and the final stage of a path to relaunch the community economy that will begin on Thursday, with the presentation of Enrico Letta's dossier on the single market . The transformation of the EU, Draghi warned, will have to involve the entire continent to keep pace with the United States and China, committed to strengthening their economies "to the detriment of ours".
In his more than twenty minute presentation, the former Eurotower number one always used the plural. “Restoring our competitiveness is not something we can achieve alone or by competing with each other,” was the exhortation. His recipe for a Union that is "fit for the world of today and tomorrow" looks at the common investments needed in the crucial sectors of defense and energy. But also to the opportunity to advance on the integration of capital markets. A step defined as fundamental for the coordination of community economic policies which, in the absence of unanimous consensus - Draghi highlighted - could also be accomplished by relying on strengthened cooperation between countries willing to move forward. The epochal challenges to which the Europe of the future is called are urgent to the point of not being able to afford "the luxury of waiting until the next modification of the treaties", especially in the face of the offensives of Washington and Beijing which are moving with "unique" policies and not fragmented.
In the buildings of Brussels, the former number one of the ECB is firmly on track for the presidency of the Commission or, alternatively, for that of the European Council . In Brussels the feeling is that, until the vote, all the chancelleries will keep their cards hidden. But more than one source is quick to observe how the scenario for Ursula von der Leyen has changed since she became an EPP candidate. Emmanuel Macron has made no secret of his desire for an impartial president of the Commission. The socialists and liberals have hardened their positions. And even the European right seems to have no doubts: "I don't know if he will be president but he is good, I like him", was the sentence of Viktor Orban who, from July, will also be the rotating president of the EU.
The impression is that they want to move quickly, locking down the top jobs before the American elections in November. D-Day could be June 17, the informal dinner where the 27 will talk about appointments before the European Council at the end of the month.
(Unioneonline/D)
