In September last year, the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, commissioned two reports on the competitiveness of the European Union, one by the politician Enrico Letta and the other by the economist Mario Draghi, on the occasion of the «Annual Report 2024 on the Single Market and Competitiveness«.
Both reports have already been sent to the European Commission, but while the Letta report has been made public, the same cannot be said of the Draghi report, which remains in the Commission’s possession. The Institution has used the upcoming European elections as a shield to try to justify this lack of transparency. The truth is that, given the importance of its content, the report may mark the next legislature.
Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank and the Italian Council of Ministers, is one of the main candidates for the presidency of the Commission, the great rival of Ursula Von der Leyen. His vision of the future Europe, shared by the President of the Republic of France, Emmanuel Macron, advocates radical changes to promote the competitiveness of the Union.
On the 16th of April, in his speech to the Conference on the European Pillar of Social Rights in Belgium, Draghi was able to advance part of the philosophy contained in his report.
Among its key points is the critic to the fragmentation of member states’ economies. In the candidate’s opinion, it is necessary to focus on consolidating the European market, so that Europe operates united, as one, in the face of the other powers. Draghi said: «[…] we have turned inwards, seeing our competitors among ourselves, even in sectors like defence and energy where we have profound common interests. At the same time, we have not looked outwards enough: with a positive trade balance, after all, we did not pay enough attention to our external competitiveness as a serious policy question.. […]».
One of the measures proposed to achieve this end is precisely, to review the pillars of banking regulation, which he describes as «prudential». Undoubtedly, opting, as Draghi suggests, for a laxer regulatory approach would benefit large financial corporations. However, this would inevitably lead to risk exposure and a lack of protection for consumers and individuals.
Another key aspect of the speech is that it identifies private savings, which are the savings of individuals and private companies, as an essential factor in advancing the Capital Markets Union.
The holding of elections does not justify the European Commission’s refusal to make public a document that can have such a far-reaching and direct impact on the interests and rights of European citizens and their well-being. The Treaties on which the European Union is built establish the Principle of Transparency as one of the fundamental principles without which the geopolitical entity cannot function. Thus, Article 10.3 of the Treaty on European Union provides that «[…] decisions shall be taken as openly and as closely as possible to the citizen […]«, recognising the right of citizens to participate in the European legislative process.
At the Finsalud Foundation we have taken matters into our own hands. On the one hand, we have submitted a request asking the Commission to make this report public. One of our main activities is the evaluation of public policies that may affect the financial well-being of citizens. Therefore, the ultimate objective of our request is to be able to study and analyse in detail the measures included in the Report, as well as their possible impact on citizens and to submit comments to the Institution.
On the other hand, we have started a campaign on Change.org entitled, «We want to participate in the future of the European Union, Mr Draghi! This way, all citizens who find this behaviour of the European Institutions as worrying as us can show their disagreement by signing the petition.
In the words of Fernando Zunzunegui, President of Finsalud: «In 21st century Europe, citizens have the right to participate in decision-making and public policy. The enlightened despotism of everything for the people, but without the people, has been superseded. Finsalud wants to present allegations to the Draghi plan designed for the next mandate of the European Commission that affects financial welfare but, to do so, we need to know the full content of the Draghi Report».
Special thanks to the Trustees of the Foundation for their collaboration in analysing the problems and drafting the application.
