The liberals of the European Parliament embrace the Draghi report presented on 17 September in plenary as Europe’s competitiveness languishes. Productivity crises, enormous difficulties and barriers to business and industrial growth, increasing loss of household purchasing power and an accelerating population ageing, the Renew Europe group says.
Mario Draghi‘s report “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,” say Renew MEPs.
“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”.
The Renew group calls on the candidates for the College of Commissioners to make Draghi’s plan a core priority without delay and kick-start European Competitiveness by turning the report into concrete legislative proposals.
“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,” noted Renew Europe Vice-President MEP Morten Løkkegaard (Venstre, Denmark’s liberal party).
“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,” he added.
“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,” highlighted Renew Europe Vice-President MEP João Cotrim de Figueiredo (Iniciativa Liberal, Portugal).
“A large part of the report is explicit previous demands of Renew Europe: strategic autonomy, more innovation and less burden. Draghi’s report aligns with our longstanding positions calling for prioritising the re-installation of Net Zero industries in Europe, reducing regulatory burdens, and ensuring affordable energy and skilled labour. 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 side with this ambition,” stated MEP Christophe Grudler (Mouvement Démocrate, France), Renew Europe’s ITRE coordinator.
