Mario Draghi warned that Europe must learn to work together and with the US after what he called Donald Trump’s “brutal wake-up call.”
In Summary
- Mario Draghi says Trump’s election was a “brutal wake-up call” for Europe.
- EU has become a “marginal spectator” in global crises.
- Calls for common EU debt to fund defence, energy, and technology.
- Says Euroscepticism stems from doubts about EU’s ability to defend its values.
Speaking at the Rimini Meeting on Friday, the former Italian premier and ex-European Central Bank president said the EU had become a “marginal spectator” in world affairs.
A Union Under Pressure
Draghi said the EU had overestimated its geopolitical influence for too long. “For years, the European Union believed that its economic dimension, with 450 million consumers, brought with it geopolitical power,” he told the audience. “This year will be remembered as the year this illusion evaporated.”
He cited the bloc’s limited role in Ukraine and Gaza, US tariffs on European goods, and China’s growing dominance. “China has made it clear that it does not consider Europe an equal partner and is using its control of rare earths to make our dependence increasingly binding,” Draghi said, drawing loud applause.
Call for Common Debt
Draghi repeated his long-standing argument that Europe must issue joint debt to fund major projects. “Only forms of common debt can support large-scale European projects that insufficient, fragmented national efforts would never be able to implement,” he said.
He pointed to defence, energy networks, and disruptive technologies as areas where national budgets fall short. Echoing his past remarks on “good debt and bad debt,” he said some investments now only make sense at European scale.
Trump and Transatlantic Tensions
Draghi said Trump’s election had forced Europe to confront its vulnerabilities. “The second push for my report on competitiveness was a much more brutal wake-up call, the one Trump gave us,” he said. “The US elections changed everything.”
He recalled that in late 2023 there was “a general sense of calm” in Brussels and industry circles. Now, he argued, the EU must “pull together” and “learn to get along.”
Defending Values
Despite growing Euroscepticism, Draghi said public doubts do not target the EU’s founding principles. “In my view, it is not scepticism about the values on which the European Union was founded: democracy, peace, freedom, independence, sovereignty, prosperity, equity and social protection,” he said. “Rather, I believe the scepticism concerns the European Union’s ability to defend these values.”
He urged EU states to adapt to shifting global realities or risk irrelevance. “When problems change so much that the pre-existing organisation becomes fragile and vulnerable, it must change,” Draghi concluded.
