The EU also benefitted from a favourable global environment. World trade burgeoned under multilateral rules. The
safety of the US security umbrella freed up defence budgets to spend on other priorities. In a world of stable geopol-
itics, we had no reason to be concerned about rising dependencies on countries we expected to remain our friends.
But the foundations on which we built are now being shaken.
The previous global paradigm is fading.
By 2040, the workforce is projected to shrink by close to 2 million workers each year.
If Europe cannot become more productive, we will be forced to choose.
innovation is blocked at the next stage: we are failing to translate innovation into commercialisation, and
innovative companies that want to scale up in Europe are hindered at every stage by inconsistent and restrictive
regulations.
Radical change is required.
The European Union, facing a shrinking share of the global economy, needs to increase its spending by nearly $900 billion a year, according to a long-awaited report from Mario Draghi.
The challenge for the European Union is “existential,” Mario Draghi, a former president of the European Central Bank, said on Monday in Brussels. If Europe cannot effectively compete and, in turn, provide its people with security and prosperity, he said, “it will have lost its reason for being.”
Europe has experienced weak demand for its exports
Nearly a third of Europe-founded “unicorns,” or companies valued over $1 billion that were founded from 2008 to 2021, have relocated their headquarters abroad, mostly to the United States.
Armida van Rij, the head of the Europe program for the research group Chatham House, said that Mr. Draghi’s report was short on details about the source of the enormous investment required to reverse Europe’s economic decline.
“Where is the money going to come from?” Ms. van Rij said.
Good question.
The strategic course is clear for the USA. Continue sucking intellectual talent from Europe & cut ties with a sinking ship.