The key for Europe to continue to progress in terms of competitiveness is to take the step towards a financial, energy and telecommunications union. This is how strongly the former Italian Prime Minister and President of the Jacques Delors Institute, Enrico Letta, demonstrated during his speech this Wednesday via videoconference at the event. The industrial transition to Net Zeroorganized by the Repsol Foundation.
In June 2023, the European Council asked this expert for a high-level report on the future of the European single market. One of the conclusions Letta has drawn, after consulting experts, politicians and businesses across Europe, is that the next step the European Union needs to take to move forward in terms of competition and in research new opportunities is the union of the financial, energy and telecommunications markets.
“We are in a red alert moment. We see that we are falling behind in terms of competition compared to our main competitors, the United States and China. There is a lack of investment in innovation, which leads to a loss of competitiveness,” he said. said.
“Sometimes we talk about three economic powers: the United States, China and Europe, and what happens is that Europe is a geographical expression rather than an economic reality. served as a useful starting point in my research.”
He further reiterated that in financial terms, Europe is becoming “a colony” of the United States and “that saddens me.” For the expert, this is a problem because “the digital payments that European consumers make are made via American platforms”, which implies that “surcharges and commissions go to the United States”, he said. -he reiterated. “If we remain a colony of the United States in financial terms, we will not be able to move forward and progress.”
The economic context is now different and reforms are necessary. Letta recalled that China and India once had as much weight as Italy in the global economy and today represent 35% of global GDP. In this context, the former prime minister called for “creating a system that integrates the three systems (energy, financial and telecommunications)” and thus compete at the same level.
“It is possible to be competitive without having financial resources at the appropriate levels, it is possible to be competitive if it is difficult for us to guarantee energy independence,” he reiterated.
Paying for the energy transition
Regarding the energy transition, Letta reiterated that the Commission has already taken the first steps. “We have decided to make this transition, we have guidelines, regulations and the necessary national legislation.” However, the big question the Commission must ask itself now is who will pay for this. “No one has talked about how to finance this transition,” he denounced.
“A large part of citizens and businessmen are worried and, in my opinion, they are absolutely right. The leaders say that we must go in a certain direction, which I agree with. but no one says who will pay the 620 billion per year what they estimate it will cost over the next decade. “If we don’t say who is going to pay for all this, people will oppose this transition because they will think that they are the ones who will pay for it.”
Thus, the proposal launched by the expert is the creation of a mix of public and private investments through the creation of an investment and savings unionwith the union of a capital market. “This will bring together all private savings for use in Europe,” he said.
“Countries must act. Some small or even large countries are isolating themselves for their own interest, they are blocking these roadmaps, we cannot wait for the 27 to agree, we must learn from our history, from the euro , of the Schengen area, are obvious successes In this sense, I strongly recommend these different speeds, these countries with the same commitment and the same approach can start working, I know that Spain would be in this approach. , he declared.
It is for this reason that he encouraged efforts to break down cultural boundaries. It shows that a merger between a Spanish bank and a Colombian bank “is a cross-border merger”, while the merger of an Italian entity with a French bank “would be like a merger between a bank from Cantabria with another from a other region.
