Zürcher Nachrichten - Facing Trump's return, EU confronts economic challenges

EUR -
AED 3.826681
AFN 70.961758
ALL 98.138602
AMD 405.652886
ANG 1.877182
AOA 951.190259
ARS 1045.720247
AUD 1.602814
AWG 1.877897
AZN 1.775245
BAM 1.955573
BBD 2.102956
BDT 124.465544
BGN 1.955294
BHD 0.392554
BIF 3076.642669
BMD 1.041829
BND 1.403837
BOB 7.197164
BRL 6.043693
BSD 1.041579
BTN 87.914489
BWP 14.229347
BYN 3.408604
BYR 20419.848375
BZD 2.099456
CAD 1.456529
CDF 2991.091432
CHF 0.930957
CLF 0.036923
CLP 1018.83097
CNY 7.54601
CNH 7.562783
COP 4573.368835
CRC 530.538382
CUC 1.041829
CUP 27.608468
CVE 110.252195
CZK 25.343745
DJF 185.478458
DKK 7.457729
DOP 62.772709
DZD 139.835759
EGP 51.726992
ERN 15.627435
ETB 127.508391
FJD 2.371151
FKP 0.822333
GBP 0.831435
GEL 2.855018
GGP 0.822333
GHS 16.456089
GIP 0.822333
GMD 73.970229
GNF 8977.957272
GTQ 8.040066
GYD 217.904692
HKD 8.110066
HNL 26.320943
HRK 7.431636
HTG 136.72412
HUF 411.522823
IDR 16610.452733
ILS 3.856892
IMP 0.822333
INR 87.968134
IQD 1364.44153
IRR 43834.955489
ISK 145.523076
JEP 0.822333
JMD 165.930728
JOD 0.738765
JPY 161.244275
KES 134.884334
KGS 90.122166
KHR 4193.512952
KMF 492.268155
KPW 937.645704
KRW 1463.259646
KWD 0.320727
KYD 0.867999
KZT 520.059599
LAK 22878.342838
LBP 93271.167197
LKR 303.144792
LRD 187.998165
LSL 18.795317
LTL 3.076251
LVL 0.630192
LYD 5.086409
MAD 10.478083
MDL 18.997794
MGA 4861.435378
MKD 61.522855
MMK 3383.819949
MNT 3540.134882
MOP 8.35093
MRU 41.443187
MUR 48.810083
MVR 16.10707
MWK 1806.090235
MXN 21.283008
MYR 4.654932
MZN 66.583684
NAD 18.795317
NGN 1767.675143
NIO 38.325549
NOK 11.53576
NPR 140.663663
NZD 1.785942
OMR 0.400943
PAB 1.041579
PEN 3.949541
PGK 4.193513
PHP 61.404399
PKR 289.239507
PLN 4.337676
PYG 8131.055634
QAR 3.798559
RON 4.978071
RSD 116.991412
RUB 108.671879
RWF 1421.834864
SAR 3.911473
SBD 8.734231
SCR 14.272055
SDG 626.663972
SEK 11.497837
SGD 1.402931
SHP 0.822333
SLE 23.68116
SLL 21846.638123
SOS 595.230868
SRD 36.978718
STD 21563.75683
SVC 9.113941
SYP 2617.626467
SZL 18.788818
THB 35.922648
TJS 11.092512
TMT 3.646401
TND 3.309016
TOP 2.440072
TRY 35.9978
TTD 7.074178
TWD 33.946439
TZS 2770.578216
UAH 43.089995
UGX 3848.553017
USD 1.041829
UYU 44.294855
UZS 13362.448044
VES 48.506662
VND 26482.251319
VUV 123.688032
WST 2.90836
XAF 655.880824
XAG 0.033274
XAU 0.000384
XCD 2.815595
XDR 0.792308
XOF 655.880824
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.379151
ZAR 18.915093
ZMK 9377.71492
ZMW 28.772658
ZWL 335.468513
  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

Facing Trump's return, EU confronts economic challenges
Facing Trump's return, EU confronts economic challenges / Photo: Ina FASSBENDER - AFP/File

Facing Trump's return, EU confronts economic challenges

Confronted with the return of Donald Trump, EU leaders on Friday are set to commit to deeply reform Europe's economy and tackle challenges highlighted by a blockbuster report.

Text size:

Ex-European Central Bank head Mario Draghi was tasked last year with preparing the report that would steer the direction of the next five years of the EU's executive arm.

The big takeaway? Europe must invest up to 800 billion euros ($863 billion) more a year to avoid falling further behind the United States.

But with Germany mired in political turmoil, divergent national interests and bitter disagreements over how to face the challenges head on, there is no guarantee that the EU will be able to step up to the mark.

If the European Union does not take heed of his report's recommendations published in September, Draghi warned the 27-country bloc would face a "slow agony" of decline.

His report has taken on greater urgency, experts say, with Trump's resounding comeback in Tuesday's US election.

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly professed his love for tariffs and threatened to punish Europe for taking advantage of the United States with higher duties.

"The Draghi report itself, in a way, becomes even more interesting and urgent in relation to this outcome," said Ian Lesser, vice president at the German Marshall Fund of the United States think tank.

There is a lot in Draghi's 400-page tome for the leaders to digest before lunch.

Besides his call for more investment to improve economic output, Draghi controversially called for common borrowing -- an idea torpedoed by Germany -- as well as reforming the EU's approach to competition policy to encourage big spending.

Leaders' talks will "focus on funding, funding and funding", an EU diplomat said, but the ways to raise the money are "all open questions" in the months ahead.

- 'Decisive action' needed -

In a draft declaration seen by AFP, the leaders stress "the pressing need for decisive action" in which they back Draghi's proposals to deepen the single market, build the capital markets union that would better mobilise private capital as well as a trade policy that defends Europe's interests.

They also agree on "mobilising both public and private financing", adding they would explore "all instruments... to match our goals", a controversial inclusion that will likely spark long discussions.

Germany and other frugal northern European countries strongly reject taking on joint debt to finance investments despite the success of the pan-EU 800-billion-euro Covid recovery plan and Draghi's proposal, backed by France.

The Draghi report "can be a solid foundation for further work of the union", a senior EU official said.

There could be more public financing via the EU's own budget or turning to the bloc's own lender, the European Investment Bank.

The discussions come at a difficult time as many countries in the EU scramble to bring under control their debt and deficit which ballooned during the coronavirus pandemic.

But Friday's talks only kickstart the conversation and concrete proposals are expected to come months later, with implementing reforms set to take even longer.

EU states all agree on the poison hurting Europe but the antidote, despite being clearly laid out by Draghi and others, has always been harder for countries to accept.

The strong message from Draghi is to deepen the bloc's cooperation overall by forming a capital markets union and creating single markets for telecoms, defence and energy. But whether leaders will act is another question.

"I fear that the states will produce fine words but there will not be much behind them," said Sylvie Matelly, director of the Institut Jacques Delors think tank.

The leaders "can all agree that we need to invest massively, but how do we do it with Germans who are not determined to undertake a paradigm shift on debt?"

O.Pereira--NZN