Summary
Mario Draghi’s landmark report on the future of European competitiveness sent shockwaves across Europe in the summer of 2024. It offered a stark assessment of a continent falling behind in economic performance and productivity in the face of a rising China and a more assertive United States.
Against the backdrop of the accelerating erosion of the post–Cold War, rules based international order—already declared “defunct” by Draghi—economic dependencies are increasingly being weaponized for geopolitical ends. At stake is not only European prosperity but also our very freedoms.
Draghi did not stop at diagnosing this “existential challenge”; he also offered a comprehensive and transformative roadmap to address Europe’s productivity challenges. At its core, the report sets out five intertwined policy priorities to help Europe avoid a “slow agony”: more dynamic innovation, a coordinated strategy for competitiveness and decarbonization, stronger security and reduced dependencies, sustained investment, and more integrated governance. Across 400 pages and 20 strategic policy areas, the report puts forward more than 550 recommendations, making it the most operational roadmap for European competitiveness to date.
Eighteen months on from the report’s publication, this Institut Montaigne study finds a 30 percent implementation rate of the Draghi report’s recommendations. More importantly, with more than half of the recommendations in formal negotiations in the second quarter of 2026, Europe is entering the decisive phase of implementation. This finding challenges
the widespread perception that, despite Draghi’s warnings, little to no progress has been made. However, it does not change the fact that the underlying geopolitical and economic realities have become increasingly adverse—
underscoring the need for further action to preserve European competitiveness.
Against the backdrop of the accelerating erosion of the post–Cold War, rules based international order—already declared “defunct” by Draghi—economic dependencies are increasingly being weaponized for geopolitical ends. At stake is not only European prosperity but also our very freedoms.
Draghi did not stop at diagnosing this “existential challenge”; he also offered a comprehensive and transformative roadmap to address Europe’s productivity challenges. At its core, the report sets out five intertwined policy priorities to help Europe avoid a “slow agony”: more dynamic innovation, a coordinated strategy for competitiveness and decarbonization, stronger security and reduced dependencies, sustained investment, and more integrated governance. Across 400 pages and 20 strategic policy areas, the report puts forward more than 550 recommendations, making it the most operational roadmap for European competitiveness to date.
Eighteen months on from the report’s publication, this Institut Montaigne study finds a 30 percent implementation rate of the Draghi report’s recommendations. More importantly, with more than half of the recommendations in formal negotiations in the second quarter of 2026, Europe is entering the decisive phase of implementation. This finding challenges
the widespread perception that, despite Draghi’s warnings, little to no progress has been made. However, it does not change the fact that the underlying geopolitical and economic realities have become increasingly adverse—
underscoring the need for further action to preserve European competitiveness.
Topics
Keywords
Competitiveness
European Prosperity
Draghi report
European Competitiveness
European Security
European Security Strategy
European Security Architecture
EU-China competition
Competitive Industries
European Governance
Innovation and Growth Strategy
Competitiveness Coordination Framework