The EU must become less “passive” in defending its economic interests against the threat of countries such as China that have “unfair advantages”, former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi has said.
The economic bloc should be ready to use more tariffs and subsidies, Draghi said, in comments that signal he is likely to favour a more interventionist industrial policy in his report due next month on how to fix Europe’s faltering competitiveness.
In a speech just days after the EU announced sharply higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, Draghi said: “We do not want to become protectionist in Europe, but we cannot be passive if the actions of others are threatening our prosperity.