«Today the outlook for Europe is among the most difficult that I can remember. Almost every principle on which the Union is founded is under attack.” This was stated by the former president of the ECB and former prime minister, Mario Draghi, speaking on the occasion of the awarding of the Princesa de Asturias prize for international cooperation. «We have built – observed the former prime minister – our prosperity on openness and multilateralism: now we face protectionism and unilateral actions. We believed that diplomacy could be the basis of our security: now we are witnessing the return of military power as a tool to assert one’s interests. We promised leadership in climate responsibility: now we see others retreating while we bear increasing costs. The world around us has changed radically and Europe is struggling to respond. This raises a crucial question: why can’t we change?”, asked the former Prime Minister.
“It is an extraordinary honor to receive this award. I accept it not only with gratitude, but with a deep sense of responsibility towards a project that has defined my professional life. My public service in Italy began with the negotiations for the Maastricht Treaty. Since then, building Europe has been a central mission of my career both as responsible for national policies, as Head of the Italian Treasury and then as Prime Minister, and as a European representative, leading the ECB”, Draghi began.
Then he observed: «We are often told that Europe is forged in crises. But how serious does a crisis have to become for our leaders to join forces and find the political will to act? After the great financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis, the ECB, also thanks to its European mandate, evolved into a more federal institution: the banking union was also launched. But since then, our challenges have become increasingly complex and now require joint action from Member States. They concern – he argued – areas such as defence, energy security and frontier technologies that require a continental scale and shared investments.
And in some of these sectors, especially defense and foreign policy, a deeper degree of democratic legitimacy is needed”, the reflection.
“We have not changed our governance for many years. Today we are a European confederation that simply cannot cope with these needs. This leaves responsibilities at the national level that can no longer be managed effectively. And even if we wanted to transfer more powers to Europe, this model does not give us the democratic legitimacy to do so,” he remarked.
«It is not just a question of the legal constraints of the EU Treaties. The deepest constraint is that, faced with this new world, we have not built a shared, citizen-approved mandate for what we, as Europeans, truly intend to do together. Not in accordance with a dream but out of necessity, the future of Europe must be a path towards federalism”, underlined Draghi.
“But, as desirable as a true federation is, it would require political conditions that do not exist today. And the challenges we face are too urgent to wait for them to emerge. A new pragmatic federalism is therefore the only viable path”, for the former prime minister.
“It is – he further observed – a federalism based on specific themes, flexible and capable of acting outside the slower mechanisms of the EU decision-making process.
It would be built by ‘coalitions of the willing around shared strategic interests recognizing that Europe’s diverse forces do not require each country to move at the same pace.’ «Imagine – the reflection of the former Prime Minister – countries with strong technological sectors agreeing on a common regime that allows their companies to grow rapidly. Nations with advanced defense industries that combine research and development and finance joint procurement.” Industrial leaders who co-invest in critical sectors such as semiconductors, or in network infrastructures that reduce energy costs.”
“This pragmatic federalism would allow – he explained – those with greater ambition to act with the speed, scale and intensity of other global powers. And, equally important, it could contribute to renewing the democratic momentum of Europe itself”.
“Because joining would require national governments to gain democratic support for specific shared goals, thus becoming a bottom-up construction of a common purpose not a top-down imposition. All those who want to join could do so while those who try to block progress could no longer hold others back,” he further stated.
“In short, it offers a confident vision of Europe and one that citizens can believe in. A Europe where young people see their future. A Europe that refuses to be trampled on. A Europe that acts not out of fear of decline, but out of pride in what it can still achieve.
We must offer this vision if we want Europe to renew itself. And I am confident that we can do it,” he concluded.