Only a tenth of the tech recommendations from Mario Draghi’s report on EU competitiveness have been implemented after one year, according to a liberal-sponsored report published today.
The Draghi report, intended as a blueprint for the EU’s economic course, was initially enthusiastically received, but it quickly became apparent that actual follow-up would be spotty at best.
The liberal report – presenting headline data from an upcoming full overview – finds that only 11% of the 383 recommendations have so far been implemented.
The authors single out out digitalisation as “stuck, with almost no measures completed” – even though the EU’s lag behind the US on tech was one of Draghi’s central arguments.
Renew MEP Ivars Ijabs criticised the EU’s current rules on geoblocking as a particular hindrance at the report’s launch, saying they were “in contradiction with the digital single market”.
Draghi’s nearly 400-page report, issued last September, called for annual investment of €750–800 billion – up to 5% of EU GDP, far above the Marshall Plan’s 1–2% – and urged action on several fronts.
Draghi, the former ECB chief and Italian prime minister credited with saving the euro during the 2012 debt crisis, warned that without change the EU’s 440 million citizens risk being left behind.
(aw)
