A report warned that the European Union has implemented only 15% of the proposed reforms to regain competitiveness while the economic gap with the United States and China widens.
The report identifies multiple factors behind the European competitive deterioration:
excess regulation
financial fragmentation among countries
demographic aging
low productivity
industrial weakness
energy and technological dependence
According to the study, this combination directly threatens long-term European economic growth.
The analysis also states that Spain shares many of the structural weaknesses of the European bloc.
Although the Spanish economy has shown recent growth, the report warns that it still relies little on real improvements in productivity and innovation.
Currently:
the industry represents only 16% of the Spanish added value
the European goal is to reach 20% of industrial GDP by 2030
investment in R&D is barely around 1.5% of GDP
The figure is well below:
the European average
that of the United States
and especially of Asian countries like South Korea
The report concludes that the European Union is going through a decisive moment against the economic and technological advance of the United States and China.
The combination of:
low productivity
technological lag
political slowness
regulatory excess
scarce innovation
is consolidating a progressive loss of global economic leadership.
Without deep and rapid reforms, the study warns, Europe risks falling further behind the major world powers in the coming decades.
The loss of competitiveness of the European Union against the United States and China continues to deepen as Brussels has barely made progress in implementing the economic reforms deemed essential to reverse the structural deterioration of the bloc.
According to a report prepared by the Club of Spanish Exporters and Investors, the European Union has only executed approximately 15% of the recommendations included in the so-called Draghi Report, one of the main plans promoted to regain global competitiveness.
The study warns that the economic gap between Europe and the United States continues to grow.
According to the report:
the growth gap has increased from 15% to 30% in the last two decades
European productivity is only about 80% of that of the United States
Europe continues to lose technological and industrial weight
Economist Isabel Álvarez, author of the document, stated that the European Union faces increasingly deep structural problems.
One of the main problems highlighted in the report is Europe's failure to develop technological giants capable of competing with large American companies.
The document emphasizes that:
no European technology company created in the last 50 years has exceeded a market capitalization of 100 billion dollars.
In contrast, the United States has multiple companies valued at over one trillion dollars.
The difference reflects:
lower innovation capacity
excess regulation
financial fragmentation
difficulties in scaling technology companies
The so-called Draghi Report proposed reforms aimed at:
reducing bureaucracy
simplifying regulations
strengthening the European single market
coordinating industrial policies
promoting innovation and productivity
However, implementation has practically come to a standstill.
“There has not been a massive deployment of actions by the EU”, warned Isabel Álvarez.
The so-called “Draghi tracker” concluded that only 15% of the measures have been applied so far.
