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(noun) A strong desire to be more successful than others. the quality of being as good as or better than something else
Since 2000, Europe’s economic slowdown “has been seen as an inconvenience but not a disaster,” Mario Draghi said in a report on the EU’s competitiveness published in September. no longer. The former head of the European Central Bank’s 393-page argument that the situation is indeed dire calls for change from those who state it.
As Ursula von der Leyen begins another five years at the helm of the European Commission, increasing competitiveness runs through her main policy proposals. This is the buzzword on the lips of every eurocrat nervously considering the euro’s uncertain future in a world of trade wars and fights for control of artificial intelligence and green energy.
There are countless indicators to measure Europe’s stagnation. Since 2000, per capita disposable income in the US has increased almost twice as much as in the EU. Only four of the world’s top 50 high-tech companies are European. Investment levels lag behind the US.
Draghi offers a solution. We will increase investment by an astonishing 800 billion euros per year. Remove barriers that prevent European telecommunications and defense companies from competing globally. and force the creation of a single European capital market.
Despite von der Leyen’s claim to run the world’s largest single market, the national fragmentation plaguing the EU has made many of the more obvious treatments politically difficult. I also know what you are doing.
A number of industrial policy proposals prepared by her committee will reach the desks of EU leaders this spring. All of them include long-controversial ideas that have previously been rejected, but new appeals for change in the name of competitiveness.
“If we don’t do this, it will be a slow suffering,” Draghi warned. The future of Europe’s economy may depend largely on whether the current bleak outlook convinces the region’s capitals that a swift collective bailout is not only prudent but essential.