Beyond the Marshall Plan: Draghi calls for EU to increase annual investment by 800 billion euros

Jinshi data news on September 9th, former European Central Bank President and former Italian Prime Minister Draghi suggested in a highly anticipated report on the 8th that a "new European industrial strategy" should be formulated as soon as possible, and called on the European Union to increase investments by as much as 800 billion euros annually to provide funding for intense and rapid reforms, in order to accelerate the pace of economic development. In this 400-page report, Draghi said that to address the EU's lagging competitiveness, an additional investment of 750 to 800 billion euros per year (about 829 to 884 billion US dollars) is needed, accounting for 4.4% to 4.7% of GDP, which is the highest level since the 1970s and far higher than the 1% to 2% level of the post-World War II reconstruction of Europe's "Marshall Plan." Draghi once again called for the creation of "common security assets" and "common funds" within the EU to support European public finance, such as common energy infrastructure. The report also calls on the Brussels authorities to promote major adjustments to economic policies, with key proposals including relaxing competition rules and promoting a new trade agenda aimed at enhancing the EU's economic independence.