Brussels once again finds itself under fire for its slow pace of reform. Mario Draghi, former Italian prime minister and former president of the European Central Bank, has warned that the European Union is losing ground against its global competitors due to “inaction and complacency” by both the Commission and member states. His warning came during an event held on September 16th in Brussels, marking the first anniversary of his landmark report on competitiveness.
The report, commissioned by Ursula von der Leyen in September 2024, contained 383 detailed recommendations for revitalizing the EU’s economy and closing the gap with the United States and China. However, a year later, only 11% of those proposals have been implemented, while the rest remain trapped in political disputes and bureaucratic hurdles.
“Europe is in a harder place today than it was a year ago,” Draghi told reporters at the anniversary gathering. “Our growth model is fading, vulnerabilities are mounting, and inaction threatens not just our competitiveness but our sovereignty itself.” He accused Brussels of hiding behind procedure to justify its passivity. “Sometimes inertia is even presented as respect for the rule of law. That is not governance, it is complacency,” he said.
Von der Leyen, who shared the stage with Draghi, admitted the EU had lacked “urgency” in acting on his recommendations. She acknowledged that the single market remains incomplete and that businesses find expanding in the United States easier than across European borders. “Our companies and workers cannot wait any longer. Urgent needs demand urgent action,” she said, calling for a long-delayed reform of the bloc’s merger rules to be accelerated.
Despite such rhetoric, frustration is growing within European industry. Executives argue that the lack of clarity on investment conditions, competition policy, and trade priorities has paralyzed decision-making. Meanwhile, the gap with global rivals is widening: in the second quarter of 2025, the U.S. economy expanded eight times faster than the EU’s.
Brussels points to ongoing trade negotiations and geopolitical distractions—avoiding a trade war with Washington, maintaining cooperation with the Trump administration on Ukraine, and calibrating relations with Beijing—as reasons for its slow progress. Yet Draghi rejected such explanations, insisting that Europe’s citizens and companies are ready to act but fear their governments have “not grasped the gravity of the moment.”
The Commission highlights recent free trade agreements and promises of new investment packages as evidence of progress. Still, critics argue that such deals risk exposing European markets to even more pressure while doing little to address the structural weaknesses Draghi identified.
