We are no longer talking about a specific Hungarian point of view, but about a shared opinion, Viktor Orbán stressed.Continue reading
Mario Draghi, former President of the European Central Bank and former Prime Minister of Italy, published an analysis in the Financial Times, pointing out that it is not external factors that are causing the EU’s competitiveness decline.
In an article titled “Forget the US – Europe has successfully put tariffs on itself,” Mario Draghi summarizes the most serious problems relating to competitiveness Europe has been facing for some time. Reacting to the article, Balázs Orbán, the Political Director of the Hungarian Prime Minister, stresses that the title itself is telling. As he writes in a social media post, the summary clearly shows that the competitiveness issues “can all be traced back to the flawed decisions made by the liberal, bureaucratic leadership in Brussels.” Why do we need enemies when we have such “friends?”, asks the politician.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the EU is damaging itself to the extent as if the European manufacturing sector were hit with a 45% tariff and the services sector with a 110% tariff, Draghi writes. Furthermore, compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has cut the profits of small European technology companies by 12 percent, he adds.
Europe has been “raising tariffs within its borders and increasing regulation” on the crucial digital sector that Draghi stresses, “makes up around 70 percent of EU GDP.”
Draghi, comparing EU, China, and US trade as a share of GDP, concludes that it has grown at a much faster pace in the Eurozone over the past 26 years. While he calls this openness “an asset in a globalizing world,” he warns that “now it has become a vulnerability.”
To solve the issue, he suggests cutting unnecessary regulation, stimulating demand, more proactive fiscal policy and greater support for R&D and innovation.
This path calls for a fundamental change in mindset,”
underlines Draghi.
Commenting on Draghi’s statement, Balázs Orbán emphasized that “it is now clear that Europe needs to change in order to regain its strength. That is exactly what we will do. First, we will get rid of the liberal elites in Brussels, and then Hungary will be the catalyst for the change that will make Europe more competitive, more resilient, and great again,” writes the political director.
Via Financial Times, Featured image: European Union/Zoltán Fischer