The writer is chief executive of UniCredit. Europe is disappearing. That’s what Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel Securities, said earlier in December. “It’s lethargic compared to the United States,” he added. “Their economy is not growing. Their per capita numbers are horrific.” When America’s top financiers make that kind of assessment about our continent, it is time to wake up and respond. It is now a little over two decades since the EU went through its greatest ever enlargement.
In one sweep, it created a single market of some 450 million people, promoting stability, democracy and economic prosperity. The positive vision of that time is still possible but it is undoubtedly imperilled. We are going through a period of EU disunity, with no sense of a common direction of travel. This is still more troubling when faced with the threat of falling even further behind the US as a result of President Donald Trump’s potential tariffs. And I hardly need mention the gamut of geopolitical troubles that have hounded us in recent years. As a continent, we are beginning to realise we need unity and far better economic growth to deal with all this. This is where the power of the single market becomes so obvious. We forget just how much it has driven the opportunity we enjoy today. We also fail to realise that this is still merely a fraction of what it could be and that it could disappear altogether. Enrico Letta’s and Mario Draghi’s recent reports on the EU reminded us of what is at stake. Without pulling critical resources together and stepping up our structural growth, the EU cannot continue to deliver better living standards. We risk falling too far behind other blocs as centres of innovation and creativity. We may ultimately lose the freedoms and ideals we hold dear. Our cherished single market is incomplete and needs work. We need to focus on an EU-wide strategy for growt