TL:DR – “EU Leaders’ Retreat: Draghi Joins to Enhance Competitiveness, Says Costa”
- Former ECB President Mario Draghi to meet with EU leaders on 12 February, at invitation of European Council President António Costa, to enhance the European economy.
- Former Italian PM Enrico Letta will also attend the retreat, focusing on competitiveness and the single market.
- Costa emphasises need for clear political guidance on reforms highlighted in their 2024 reports.
- Analysts criticise the slow implementation of Draghi’s recommendations, with only 11% actioned in the first year.
Draghi to join EU leaders at retreat to boost competitiveness, Costa tells Euronews
Former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi will attend an informal meeting of European Union leaders at the invitation of European Council President António Costa, who is looking to accelerate the implementation of his competitiveness report.
The retreat will take place on 12 February and will focus on boosting the European economy. Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta will also participate in the gathering.
Draghi and Letta penned two influential reports on the EU single market and competitiveness in 2024.
In an interview with WTX EU News from New Delhi, where the EU signed a major trade deal with India, Costa said the retreat will serve to kickstart a cross-institutional debate on how to strengthen the European economy and implement their reform agenda.
“I invited Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta to join us as we take stock of what we’ve done but also look at what we need to deliver,” Costa said.
“We need to create renewed momentum and give a new impetus” to their call for reforms.
“I expect leaders to give clear political guidance to the Commission and the Council as they did last year on defence and security,” he added. “This time, for the single market.”
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Costa has held a series of informal meetings bringing together the 27 leaders to brainstorm without the formalities of a European summit, which usually sees a stricter agenda and looks for compromise to deliver unanimous conclusions.
The retreat format, he argues, allows for more open discussions. Last year, leaders met alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss European security and defence. By inviting Draghi and Letta, Costa hopes to reinstate momentum around their recommendations published in 2024.
Last year, the European Commission’s efforts focused on reducing red tape and cutting bureaucracy pegged to excessive EU regulation. While pushing for simplification of existing rules, analysts suggest the executive is not doing enough to push forward actual reforms in line with the recommendations of the two reports.
A report by the European Policy Innovation Council published in September last year suggested that only 11% of the recommendations listed in the Draghi report had been implemented in its first year even as the Commission referred to it as its economic compass.
Draghi’s attendance could serve to sharpen minds as the former ECB president is highly influential in diplomatic circles, the European capitals and the EU institutions where his speeches are closely monitored.
Draghi has repeatedly called for the bloc to work as a true union and called for a “pragmatic federalist” approach in a changing world.
Draghi has also expressed support for joint borrowing by EU member states to finance large projects of common interest such as security and defence, and called for the integration of the European capital markets to attract and scale up investments.