Experts critique Draghi’s incremental proposals on EU competitiveness

Mario Draghi's recent report on EU competitiveness, published on September 9, has received mixed reviews from experts. While they acknowledge his accurate diagnosis of the EU's competitiveness issues, they criticize his proposals as being too incremental and lacking in creativity. Experts like Reinhilde Veugelers and Andrea Renda emphasize that the recommendations do not present a bold vision for the future, instead focusing on addressing past failures. Draghi's suggestions include reforming Horizon Europe, the EU's primary research and innovation funding program, to concentrate on fewer common priorities and significantly increasing its budget from €93.5 billion to €200 billion. He also proposed scaling up the European Innovation Council (EIC) to resemble the US DARPA, which could facilitate large-scale funding for breakthrough technologies. However, experts disagree on the EIC's role, with some advocating for a bottom-up approach to support startups, while others call for a complete overhaul to fund ambitious projects. Another critical area of discussion is the relationship between academia and industry, which is essential for bringing innovative technologies to market. Experts question whether Draghi's proposals effectively address this issue, noting that existing programs like Erasmus are not designed for this purpose. They suggest enhancing the mobility aspect of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions program to better facilitate collaboration. Overall, while Draghi's report identifies key challenges and proposes some reforms, experts warn that without more innovative and detailed plans, these proposals may not lead to significant advancements in EU competitiveness.