Europe needs to act now on Draghi report, Paschal Donohoe says

Paschal Donohoe (pictured) expressed his support for the European Commission’s investigation of whether Musk’s X social media platform is complying with the bloc’s content rules when it comes to politics and other areas. File photo

The European Union needs to accelerate its efforts to boost its competitiveness and implement some of the recommendations made by former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, the head of the Eurogroup Paschal Donohoe has said.

“I believe we should look to the future with confidence, but with no complacency,” Donohoe said in an interview in Brussels. “We have to heighten our level of urgency regarding steps that we can take that will deepen the foundations of the euro in particular.” 

Donohoe said the bloc needs to demonstrate progress on projects such as the capital markets union, where “we’re going to have to show a far higher level of ambition in 2025”. 

The EU is bracing for the risk of fresh trade tensions with the US just as it’s lagging behind American and Chinese firms in sectors including green technology, digital and automotive. Draghi last year outlined some ideas of how to lower barriers in the internal market but warned of an investment gap of at least €800bn.

Donohoe said the EU can still become “a very good ally” for boosting growth with the Trump administration and highlighted the “very good engagement” that the government in Dublin had with the first Trump administration.

But the strong US-Irish relationship, particularly when it comes to the tech industry, is set to face a difficult period as tensions have worsened between billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk and European regulators.

Donohoe expressed his support for the European Commission’s investigation of whether Musk’s X social media platform is complying with the bloc’s content rules when it comes to politics and other areas.

“We need to guard democracies against the interventions of extreme power,” Donohoe said. “Free speech and a vigorous debate is a very precious necessary quality of the health of democracies, but equally we need to ensure that we can protect those qualities from very high levels of power and wealth.”

Bloomberg