Research

HCSS Draghi Revisited Report Series | Expert Commentary

One year after Mario Draghi’s landmark report on Europe’s economic future, HCSS launches the second edition of its Draghi Report SeriesDraghi Revisited.

Despite political attention, Europe still struggles with dependencies in defence, raw materials, cleantech, and digital domains. Global tensions with both China and the US are mounting, and Europe’s trade model faces unprecedented pressure. Progress has been uneven and often too slow due to coordination, financing and other internal barriers.

Last year, Ron Stoop and Berend Kwak examined the long-term implications of Draghi’s recommendations. Their work earned them an invitation to the European Commission’s high-level conference marking the report’s anniversary, where they now return to assess how far Europe has come in addressing Draghi’s urgent call to secure industrial, technological and economic sovereignty.

Many of the sectors mentioned in Mario Draghi’s “The future of European competitiveness” touch directly on research areas of HCSS. In this new series, HCSS experts revisit Draghi’s warnings sector by sector, looking back at the concrete steps the EU has taken.

Since the publication of the Draghi Report, what concrete steps have been taken at the EU and member state level in this sector, and how effective have they been so far? Where do the biggest gaps lie between political ambition and practical implementation, and why do they exist? Looking ahead, what should be the EU’s top two or three priorities to stay competitive, and where might it make sense to scale back? If we meet again in a year, what single measurable outcome would convince you that Europe is on the right track in this sector?

The individual expert commentaries can also be read online:

The HCSS Draghi Revisited Report Series interviews were conducted and edited throughout September 2025 by Ron Stoop and Berend Kwak.

Experts

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