Why the EU still needs Draghi

Mario Draghi has, over recent years, consistently and firmly advanced demanding views on the future of Europe. But his speech in Aachen, on the occasion of receiving the Charlemagne Prize, went further. 

It offered a clear-eyed view that a long historical phase of the EU has come to an end, and with it a roadmap for what must come next.

For more than seventy years, Europe has been able to build peace, a single market, a common currency and freedom of movement because it operated within a stable international order, underpinned by US security guarantees and sustained by globalisation. 

In that environment, the EU prioritised rules, compromise and governance, reducing the role of power politics that had devastated the continent in the twentieth century. That world no longer exists.

The pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, geopolitical tensions, technological competition and the artificial intelligence revolution have exposed Europe’s vulnerabilities: energy dependence, technological delays, industrial fragmentation, insufficient capital integration and an inability to invest at the necessary scale.

The core message of Draghi is simple but decisive. 

Europe can no longer function as a large regulated market alone. It must become a genuine political, industrial, technological and strategic power.

The challenge posed by AI, energy infrastructure, semiconductors, common defence and technological sovereignty requires massive investment, European coordination and the ability to make decisions quickly. 

In a world dominated by large continental powers, no European country can manage this alone.

For this reason, Draghi speaks of “pragmatic federalism” – groups of Member States willing to move forward together on defence, energy, innovation and common security. 

Not against the United States, but to finally build a mature Europe capable of being a strong ally rather than a dependent one.

The war in Ukraine has already changed Europe more deeply than is often acknowledged. It has forced Europeans to recognise that freedom, democracy and prosperity cannot survive without strategic capacity, industrial autonomy and common defence.

Aachen, therefore, was far more than a ceremonial lecture. It was a call for Europe’s historical maturity.

And at such a difficult and decisive moment, a figure like Draghi would likely remain one of the most authoritative guarantees for guiding the Union towards a transformation that can no longer be postponed.