Mario Draghi ‘s speech at the Rimini Meeting had the force of a merciless diagnosis: Europe is no longer able to exert global influence by its economic weight alone. The duties imposed by the United States, the Union’s irrelevance in the peace negotiations on Ukraine and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the growing industrial and technological dependence on China are the concrete facts that demonstrate this. The geopolitical reality of 2025 is clear: without common political and strategic instruments, Europe does not count.

Draghi’s recipes

Draghi did not merely point out the weaknesses. He also indicated some ways out. The first is to truly complete the single market, breaking down the remaining barriers to internal trade that still hold back European productivity. The second is to invest in technology and research on a continental scale, creating real industrial and digital clusters capable of competing with the US and China.

He went on to distinguish between ‘good debt’ and ‘bad debt’ and to use common European debt instruments to finance projects that no state alone would be able to sustain. Finally, he stressed that defence spending must increase, but through shared instruments and not through isolated efforts that would remain insufficient.

It is a precise agenda, which he himself described as ‘pragmatic Europeanism’, and which has a fundamental objective: to restore Europe’s capacity for self-determination in political, economic, military and industrial terms.

The political knot

But this is where the real issue opens up. The to-do list is not enough. The knot is political. It has been repeated for years – and it is true – that the main obstacle to a stronger Europe is the intergovernmental model, dominated by national vetoes and jealousies, and that the solution would be a European federation. However, a European federation would not come into being by a spontaneous act: it would always be a decision of national governments, i.e. of the same actors that today fuel European impotence. It is therefore not in institutional design, however important, that the solution lies.

The real answer lies in the construction of a European and pro-European political consciousness, capable of unhinging traditional political systems and creating a true European movement. Not a cosmetic addition to the existing political families, but a cultural and political project that places Europe at the centre as a horizon of militancy, beyond the old categories of left and right.

We are not asking Mario Draghi to found or lead this movement. It is neither his task nor his role. We are asking him for something else: to continue to use his authority and vision to keep open the rift that his Rimini speech produced. Within that rift must be inserted a new generation of activists and political leaders, which we do not yet see but which will be called upon to emerge.

The recipes are there, and Draghi has listed them. What is lacking is the political context to turn them into reality. Building this context is the challenge facing Europe. A challenge that can no longer be postponed. As Draghi himself recalled, ‘our commitment is not to draw our past. We can change our history. We can change our mentality.”