The EU economy needs to become more competitive with the US and China or it “could die,” French President Emmanuel Macron stated at the Berlin Global Dialogue event on Wednesday.
According to Macron, the 27-nation bloc is falling behind Washington and Beijing, both having outstripped the EU in economic output and investment.
He warned that the European Union is in a very precarious situation and could face problems if it fails to deepen its single market and to resolve “fragmentation.”
“The EU could die, we are on a verge of a very important moment,” the French president said.
“Our former model is over – we are over-regulating and under-investing. In the two to three years to come, if we follow our classical agenda we will be out of the market.”
The French president also warned that if the EU failed to urgently reform regulations the bloc would be forced to implement a rescue plan in five to ten years’ time.
He called on member states to press for fair global trade rules, while also urging Brussels to complete its banking union package of financial rules, according to Bloomberg.
Macron’s remarks echo the warnings published in Mario Draghi’s “economic competitiveness” report last month.
The former European Central Bank president and Italian prime minister said the EU needs €800 billion ($890 billion) in annual investment, which is about 4.5% of the entire bloc’s GDP, in order to just keep up with the US and China.