Europe must reinvent itself, former European Central Bank president and former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi said at the Economist conference, noting that the issues it faces predate the new US administration. “The arrival of Trump is just accelerating things.”

“I have no doubt that we can do what is needed. They say Europe moves through crises, but it needs to understand that it is in crisis,” he added.

When the EU was created, he noted, the aim was not to become a global power but to ensure peace between countries that had previously found themselves at war with each other. “It was a peace project,” he said, adding:

“That explains a lot of what is happening today, such as why consensus is sought in decision-making in the first place, even when there is no substance behind it. It also explains why a bureaucratic, unelected authority, the Commission, was created,” he added.

Europe did not need a foreign or defense policy, because the US provided them. “Now it has understood that things are changing. Areas have emerged where action must be taken,” Draghi pointed out.

Let groups of countries move forward
“We must define the main priorities that require a common response,” if all 27 countries cannot move forward together, let us move forward with groups of countries and the others if they want to follow. We have examples, such as the Schengen Zone, where it was not necessary for all countries to move forward together, he said.

Referring to his report, he noted that “what it mainly highlights is that reforms are needed, not money… We have a common market for toothpaste but not for artificial intelligence. “There are hundreds of examples of obstacles that exist within Europe,” Mario Draghi noted, mainly in the services sector.

Regarding Greece, he said that it is 10 years since the referendum. “If you look at the situation today, you have to congratulate the Greek people.

imerisia