Mario Draghi recommended that national barriers between the EU's 27 member states should be pared back. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB) from the euro zone crisis years to 2019, was tasked with setting out the reasons why Europe was falling behind the United States and China economically. [ EU economy falls behind global rivals due to ‘complacency’, warns Mario DraghiOpens in new window ]Basically, more European integration, not less. There are 27 insolvency regimes and tax systems, and there is national rather than European market supervision by regulators. Draghi isn’t going to save Europe.

Source: The Irish Times February 12, 2026 18:56 UTC