Filenews 10 September 2024
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who tasked Mr Draghi with preparing the report, will have to decide to what extent to follow his recommendations.
Introducing the presentation of the report by the former central banker, he said: "Last year, I asked you to draft a report on the future of European competitiveness, with recommendations to address domestic economic challenges and take a stronger position in a world of fierce economic competition. Since then, this issue has gained momentum, thanks in particular to the impetus of EU leaders at the European Council. There is now a broad consensus that this issue must be at the top of our priorities and at the heart of our actions. Throughout this year, dear Mario, we have had the pleasure of meeting very often and exchanging views. We shared analyses of the economic situation and started designing solutions. This process was facilitated by our agreement on two fundamental principles. First, the only way to ensure our long-term competitiveness is to move away from fossil fuels and towards a clean, competitive and circular economy. Secondly, our competitiveness efforts must go hand in hand with increasing the prosperity of everyone in Europe. All the transformations we set in motion must be fair. We can build on our very successful social model: the social market economy."
Ms Leyen made three points:
«First, to be competitive, we need to master the clean and digital transition. We laid the basis for this, as you know, the clean and digital transition, in my first mandate. Now is the time to make it happen. We need to support our industry to decarbonise through innovation and turn it into a competitive advantage. That is why we need to act with all the main levers at our disposal: reduce energy prices, mobilise public and private investment, improve the business environment and cut unnecessary red tape.
Secondly, we fully agree that we need more skills, because technologies are only as good as the people who design, produce and of course operate them. We need to increase investment in skills and bring more people into the labour market, equipped with the skills needed for the clean and digital transitions.
Finally, let us not forget that to be competitive, we must be resilient. We have been through multiple shocks in recent years and are working to build stronger industrial value chains, particularly in terms of security of supply. Key concepts here are access to critical raw materials and key components, strong energy and digital grids, just to name a few."
