Mario Draghi discusses Europe’s future at Rimini Meeting 

RIMINI, Italy — former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi delivered a stark message at the “What Horizon for Europe?” meeting in Rimini: the European Union cannot cling to past models of influence and must reinvent itself to survive in a harsher global order.

Draghi, who authored last year’s landmark report on EU competitiveness, told the audience that the era when Europe’s 450 million consumers guaranteed global leverage has “evaporated.” 

He cited U.S. tariffs on European goods, Washington’s push for higher defense spending, and China’s grip on rare earths as evidence of a shifting balance of power. Europe, he said, has been reduced to a “spectator” on the world stage.

While the EU remains  the largest financial backer of Ukraine’s war effort, Draghi noted that it has played a marginal role in peace negotiations. In other crises – such as the bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites and the conflict in Gaza – Europe has stood on the sidelines while rivals assert raw power.

“The old European model is gone,” the ex-premier stated. To regain influence, he argued, the bloc must repair the Single Market, tear down  self-imposed barriers, and invest jointly in critical technologies to reduce strategic dependencies. “No European country alone has the resources to build the industrial capacity required to develop these technologies.” 

The stakes, Draghi insisted, are existential.  Generations that grew up taking democracy and peace for granted will only commit to Europe if it can deliver growth and security. 

He praised Europe’s capacity to act in crisis — joint borrowing during the pandemic,swift vaccine rollout, and a unified response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Yet he warned that crisis-driven strength is not enough.

 “The challenge now,” he concluded,”is to act with the same determination in ordinary times.”

Ending on a hopeful note, he urged Europeans to turn skepticism into action, and called on the EU to step up from spectator to protagonist.