Mario Draghi’s recent warning is not just another technocratic report. It is a loud wake-up call. A statesman who knows Europe’s architecture as few do reminds us that inertia threatens not only our competitiveness; it endangers Europe’s very sovereignty and future.
One year after his 383 recommendations, very few have been implemented. The rest have bogged down in bureaucracy, petty calculations, and hesitation. And while America is moving eight times faster than we are, we watch awkwardly—spectators to our own decline.
At the same time, developments around us are revealing. Europe was compelled to accept a trade agreement that primarily serves American interests. The trade balance with China has deteriorated dramatically, with China’s surplus rising by 20% within a few months. And energy costs remain four times higher than in the United States, while American LNG costs European consumers up to 90% more. These facts leave no room for delay; they demand decisive choices here and now.
This is not the Europe envisioned by its founders after World War II. Then, the Union was born as a political project of peace, cooperation, and progress. Today it risks being reduced to an economic organization without a voice, without a role, without a soul.
Most worrying of all, the current leadership seems reconciled to this mediocrity. I often hear the excuse that “this is how Europe works—slowly and carefully.” No. That is not respect for the institutions. It is complacency. It is abdication.
Citizens and businesses feel it. They see the Union lagging, failing to keep pace with the world—and they are disappointed. This disappointment is more dangerous than any economic indicator; it erodes the European ideal itself.
The truth is that Europe—both at the EU and national levels—urgently needs courageous leadership. Leaders who will speak the language of truth, accept the political cost, and pull the Union out of stagnation. This is not a luxury; it is an existential necessity.
If we continue like this, history will pass us by. Europe will remain wealthy but politically powerless— a market without a strategy, a past without a future—while the younger generation sinks into disillusionment. In a fluid and uncertain global landscape, Europe is called to become once again the gateway to a stable and hopeful future.
Draghi has shown the way. The question is whether there is the political will to follow it. If not, Europe will not merely lose its competitiveness; it will lose its very raison d’être and slide back into its darkest past.
As Europe’s vision weakens, the responsibilities of those who believe in it grow. Mario Draghi is one of them. His views—both realistic and visionary—attempt a leap against decay.
And here lies hope: if these voices multiply, if they resonate with leaders and societies, Europe can regain its historic stride. For History does not wait, does not forget, and does not forgive—but it always rewards those who dare.
