That would be a mistake if we want to take collective control of our destiny in this new world – a world marked by direct criticism and unilateral action on the part of the new President of the United States. What we need is not necessarily more Europe, but rather a “better” Europe: a Europe that is less caught up in the detail, more focused on a few key priorities, and more efficient. A Europe that talks less and acts more: “Little, well, until the end.” Of course, there are some non-economic areas: youth training – like Enrico Letta, I believe in the benefits of an Erasmus-pro programme for apprenticeships – climate change, defence and the protection of our borders, for example. On the economic level, we should be proud of our successes – our single currency, our single market and our shared social model. But to complete the success of our monetary union, it is vital that we make progress on our economic union. There are two concrete levers for achieving this . A “Financing Union for Investment and Innovation” The first immediate step is a “Financing Union for Investment and Innovation” (FUII). Why? In those economies that are close to the so-called technological frontier, as is the case with France and Italy, innovation is the key to economic growth, and not just for start-ups. The problem is that, today in Europe, there are companies that want to invest and innovate, but that cannot find the right financing, notably equity capital.
Out of the 35 OECD countries, that with the second highest real GDP growth was Ireland at 4.3% in 2016, and Spain is also growing strongly, at 3.2%; the country with the lowest government debt at end-2016, was Estonia, at 9.5% of GDP; several countries in the area, including Austria and Germany, boast almost full employment, at between 4% and 6% in 2016; Estonia and Finland are among the top 3 countries in terms of science scores in the PISA test. So the euro is not to blame, it is the different national policies. Admittedly, with the euro we have lost the tool of currency devaluation. Devaluation can have positive effects in the short term as it lowers the price of exports, but, in the medium term, it can have significant negative effects: it can exert inflationary pressure via the rise in import prices; it can make the country poorer, via the reduction in the value of its assets, and conversely the increase in its external debts; and lastly, it creates the risk of a trade war, with chain devaluations, as was the case in the 1930s. On average, we have a suitable exchange rate with the euro. But no lasting success in economic history has been built on a weak currency; all have been built on a good structural environment, corporate innovation, and a high level of specialisation among firms. Italian creativity, your commercial ingenuity, dating back to Venice, Genoa and Florence, count much more than the facility of a weak lira.