EU, Draghi: 'Huge investments, public resources and private savings needed'

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT

GENT (BELGIUM) - Never before have the Twenty-Seven been so focused on their financial future. Lagging behind the other major world powers, Europe must find fresh money to cope with the major changes of recent years, both political and economic. The gaze runs to the environmental transition, but above all to the rearmament to which the member states are forced after the outbreak of war in Ukraine and recurring international hotbeds.

Gathered here in Ghent, in Belgian Flanders, for a two-day meeting, the finance ministers will have an exchange of views today, Saturday 24 February, with Mario Draghi, the former president of the European Central Bank, who is in charge of preparing a report on the competitiveness of the European economy. Speaking to the press before the meeting, the economist highlighted the need for Europe to make huge investments in the near future.

"Many profound changes have occurred in recent years (...) These changes have a variety of consequences, one of which is clear: we will have to invest a huge amount of resources in a relatively short time, in Europe," explained the former central banker. "Today's discussion is about what the finance ministers are thinking and how they are preparing to finance these investment needs. I am not only thinking of public resources, but also of private savings."

Mario Draghi's stance came at a time when the Twenty-Seven would like to complete the single market also in the financial field. The issue is a long-standing one as it confronts different national sensitivities. Provocative, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has proposed voluntary cooperation between member states in order to set in motion a coveted capital market union. Germany is cold: it fears market segmentation and possible arbitrage by banking institutions.