Former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has warned that the EU will not survive as anything other than an economic bloc unless it deepens its integration, as he forecast a recession in Europe by the end of this year.
Draghi’s warning comes as the EU economy struggles to recover from the consecutive crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, both of which exposed frailties in the bloc’s supply chains, energy market and global dependencies.
“Either Europe acts together and becomes a deeper union, a union capable of expressing a foreign policy and a defence policy, aside from all the economic policies . . . or I am afraid the European Union will not survive other than being a single market,” Draghi told the FT’s Global Boardroom conference.