The EU’s “illusion” of geopolitical might has “evaporated,” Mario Draghi has said
US President Donald Trump has delivered a “brutal wake-up call” to the EU, shattering the bloc’s illusion of geopolitical power rooted in its economic might, ex-Italian Prime Minister and former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has said, warning that the bloc must undergo major reforms to remain relevant.
Trump has pressured the bloc’s NATO members to boost military spending, forced Brussels into a new trade deal that imposes a 15% tariff on most EU exports, scraps duties on US industrial goods, and opens wide market access to American products.
The deal has sparked a backlash from current and former EU officials, who say it heavily favors Washington.
“For years, the EU believed that its economic size, with 450 million consumers, brought with it geopolitical power and influence in international trade relations. This year will be remembered as the year in which this illusion evaporated,” Draghi said at a conference in Rimini on Friday.
Trump’s broader policies have left the EU with only a “marginal” role in Ukraine peace efforts, reduced it to a passive “observer” in Gaza and Iran, and prompted China to “make it clear that it does not consider Europe an equal partner,” he added.
“These events have done justice to any illusion that the economic dimension alone ensured any form of geopolitical power,” Draghi stated. “Trump has given us a brutal wake-up call – the thing to do is to pull ourselves together.”
Draghi claimed the bloc’s weakness lies in its “passivity and rigidity” and urged internal reform. He warned that reverting to national sovereignty could “further expose us to the will of great powers,” and instead called for scrapping internal trade barriers and issuing common debt to fund defense, infrastructure, and innovation.
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Critics have argued that common debt could erode national control over finances and spark division within the EU, as wealthier members may resent covering costs for poorer southern nations seen as fiscally undisciplined. However, experts, including the International Monetary Fund, warned that without reforms addressing key structural challenges, the EU faces stagnation.
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