Call to future EU commissioners: Draghi's plan must be your bible

Europe's competitiveness is languishing. Productivity crises, huge difficulties and barriers to business and industrial growth, increasing loss of household purchasing power and an accelerating ageing of our population. For this reason, the Draghi report presented today in plenary is a wake-up call for the EU to shed its state of innocence and take action in the face of the loss of competitiveness of global players such as China, India or the United States.

We embrace that this report mirrors several of Renew Europe's proposals, such as innovation, better-integrated capital markets, speeding up digitalisation, decarbonisation as a source of growth, bold defence and reducing barriers for the single market, among others.

Following Von der Leyen's presentation of the candidates for the College of Commissioners, we call on them to make Draghi’s plan a core priority without any delay in order to kick-start European Competitiveness by turning Draghi’s report into concrete legislative proposals.

MEP Morten LØKKEGAARD (Venstre, Denmark’s liberal party), Renew Europe Vice-President, said:

"Draghi's report portrays a European economy unable to unleash its full potential due to the huge market fragmentation and lack of strategic reforms, which puts severe strains on our competitiveness, discourages business growth and blurs us in the face of other major global players. Without a firm commitment to innovation, better-integrated capital markets and a deepening of our internal market, it will be increasingly difficult to adequately invest in the growing priorities list of the Union, from energy security and climate change to defence, industrial competitiveness and health. It is time to act and go hand in hand in this transformation with citizens and businesses".

MEP João COTRIM DE FIGUEREIDO (Iniciativa Liberal, Portugal), Renew Europe Vice-President, declared:

“Our businesses and investors are being swept by a tide of bureaucracy and often restrictive or inconsistent European regulations. It is essential that the new European Commission makes growth the keystone of its actions. Europe does not need to produce new legislation every day. It needs to simplify processes and cut the red tape as much as possible. This is the only way to play in the league of the big global players. And, as Draghi makes clear, we have no time to lose”.

MEP Christophe GRUDLER, (Mouvement Démocrate, France), Renew Europe’s ITRE coordinator, stated:

“A large part of the report are explicit previous demands of Renew Europe: strategic autonomy, more innovation and less burden. Draghi’s report aligns with our longstanding positions calling for prioritizing the re-installation of Net Zero industries in Europe, reducing regulatory burdens, ensuring affordable energy and skilled labor. All has to come simultaneously or we will fail. There is an uphill challenge ahead that will require strong and courageous political decisions. Renew Europe should sides with this ambition”.