Draghi says EU is falling behind its rivals in competitiveness

By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is falling behind global rivals due to limited innovation, high energy prices and skills gaps, former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi told policymakers on Wednesday ahead of his much-anticipated report on the topic.

The European Commission asked Draghi a year ago to write a report on how the EU should keep its greening economy competitive and able to challenge China and the United States at a time of increased global friction.

Draghi, also a former Italian prime minister, is expected to publish the report on Monday. It is likely to steer debate on EU competitiveness, one of the priorities of the next European Commission, which is due to take office later this year.

In a closed sessions before EU ambassadors and leaders of groups in the European Parliaments on Wednesday, Draghi outlined the challenges facing the bloc, according to EU sources.

He faced many questions, but stopped short of detailing the proposed solutions in his report.

He said the EU needed to speed up the digitalisation of its economy, according to EU diplomats, and said the “radical change” he is advocating required a strong role for the private sector and unprecedented cooperation between EU institutions.

His report, expected to run to around 400 pages, is set to cover the EU’s productivity gap compared to rivals, the need to reduce EU dependencies, such as on key battery minerals from China, and the climate change challenge.

It will conclude with recommendations for 10 major economic sectors.

Draghi has previously said the EU needs to respond more effectively to rivals no longer playing by long-established global rules in ways to boost their competitive positions and focus more on global than internal EU competition.