8kun down again - flooding message, could be shut down which jim stated last night for maintenance
A speech made by Mario Draghi summary for the E.U.
--
Draghi Speech Summary
At the Rimini Meeting on August 21, 2025, former Italian Prime Minister and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi delivered a stark assessment of the European Union's current geopolitical standing, declaring that the illusion of the EU's global influence based solely on its economic size has evaporated.
He outlined a "pragmatic Europeanism" agenda focused on completing the single market, investing in continental-scale technology and research, utilizing common European debt for major projects like defence and energy, and increasing defence spending through shared instruments.

Diagnosis of Decline: Draghi stated that Europe has become marginal in key international events, notably in peace negotiations for Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and has been sidelined by the United States and China, which now view Europe as an unequal partner.
He cited the recent 15% tariffs imposed by the US on European goods as a "brutal wake-up call" to this reality.
Proposed Solutions: His solutions include breaking down internal trade barriers to boost productivity, creating large-scale industrial and digital clusters, and using "good debt" through common European instruments to finance projects too large for any single nation to manage alone, particularly in defence, energy, and disruptive technologies.
The Core Challenge: While the specific policy agenda is clear, Draghi emphasized that the fundamental obstacle is not institutional design but the lack of a strong, pro-European political consciousness capable of transcending traditional left-right divides and driving the necessary political change.
He called for a new generation of activists and leaders to emerge and build this political context.