Overview
- Mario Draghi outlined his plan while receiving the Princesa de Asturias Prize for International Cooperation in Oviedo on October 24.
- He warned that almost every founding principle of the Union is under attack as the global environment shifts and Europe struggles to respond.
- Draghi argued the EU operates as a confederation with outdated governance and lacks a citizen-approved mandate to transfer more powers to the European level.
- He called for a pragmatic, sector-by-sector federalism built by coalitions of the willing, enabling action outside the EU’s slowest decision rules and allowing different paces among states.
- Priority areas include joint defence R&D and procurement, energy security infrastructure, and frontier technologies such as semiconductors, backed by shared investment and national democratic support.