While the European Council held on October 17–18 was busy with diplomats trying to find a solution for the situation in the Middle-East and Ukraine, internal affairs focused on going forward on a more competitive Europe in the world. What were the main messages of the meeting and can the Draghi report help find a permanent solution to the economic challenges?
Following up on the European Council meeting, important messages were exchanged at the latest Munich Security Conference. Wolfgang Ischinger, former German ambassador to the US stated that the EU has a serious technological gap, which can only be solved through establishing a working Capital Markets Union. The founder of the conference – often referred to as “Davos with guns” echoes some of the challenges pointed out in the latest Draghi-report, where European enterprises are caught in a middle-tech trap and cannot develop and expand beyond their own fields. On the other hand Meta and Alphabet (formerly known as Facebook and Google) are radically changing the AI and mobile tech landscape.
During the Council meeting, European leaders discussed how reform of the internal market and helping the tech and defense industry can help Europe develop its economy by removing barriers to trade, decreasing administrative burden, supporting a business-friendly environment by easing capital lending and promoting innovation. This would help in the creation of more European startup unicorns by investing with government and private sector funding. The Strategic Agenda for 2024–2029 lays out the main pillars to increase Europe’s standing in the global stage:
Further promoting a fair digital and green transition, which unfortunately did not help the automobile industry develop. The strict emission rules will need to be revised and more funding into new engine technologies are necessary to solve the industry’s current crisis. Furthermore, supporting businesses in cutting red-tape and providing quality services to EU member states citizens is crucial. Many people still have difficulties with digital access to services as well as accessing real-time feedback from flight operators and railway companies. An EU-wide integrated system and high-speed railway would provide benefits in tourism and business, which is currently lagging behind.
Leaders in the European Council will need to bring Europe closer to the citizens through pragmatic solutions which make people’s lives easier, safer and more prosperous. In the political-noise and conflict driven international environment the EU will need to focus more on its own agenda and internal reforms in order to become successful instead of a purely value-driven foreign policy. Next to this, transregional development programs will need to ensure that no matter what country a person is in, they receive approximately the same treatment and quality of service that they pay for. Looking at the capital markets union, the public service and transport sector there is still much work to be done. The EU institutions and EU leaders will need to come to a compromise or say, “social contract” to work towards a solution-oriented Europe which can also help better integrate the Western Balkans countries in the EU’s Single Market. The task would require the increase of the common EU budget which would also be difficult to achieve with northern European countries strict budget rules, however looking at Chinese and US spending, one must answer the question: How much does Europe cost?
Photo source: europa.eu
