Outgoing EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Saturday that the EU had managed to avoid the “dire prophecies” that had threatened its economy in recent years but still had to deal with Russia’s war in Ukraine and fragile trade ties with China.
In an interview with CNBC, Gentiloni said that the EU economy “generally has weak growth, but there are no dire predictions that we have heard in the past two or three years: recession, blackouts, divisions, the division of Europe before the Russian invasion.” Steve Sedgwick at the Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, Lake Como, Italy.
Gentiloni is a former Italian Prime Minister who has served as EU Economic Commissioner under European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen since December 2019. legislation (such as tariffs), while the European Commission is responsible for the economic strategy and legislation (such as tariffs) of the 20 euro area countries.
Gentiloni will not serve as commissioner for a second term Von der Leyen’s chaotic re-election as president – but he has already outlined the economic outlook that awaits his incoming successor.
“The economy is growing slowly but still growing. When the epidemic occurs, the risk of divisions between the EU is very limited,” he noted. “The bad part of this story is that if we don’t improve our capabilities in terms of competitiveness, if we don’t Huge progress has been made on the so-called Capital Markets Union, and if we don’t solve the defense challenge… If we don’t do that, then the new situation in the world will look very difficult for Europeans.
Europe, recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, has been struggling with a cost-of-living crisis and a high-inflationary environment, exacerbated by energy supply constraints following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and sanctions on Moscow. Eurozone economy expanded in first half of this year, flash data better than expected Gross domestic product increased by 0.3% For the three months to the end of June, compared with the previous quarter.
in spring forecastThe European Commission predicts that the EU’s GDP will grow by 1% in 2024, and the Eurozone’s GDP will grow by 0.8%. The GDP of the two regions will grow by 1.6% and 1.4% respectively in 2024. Broader geopolitical risks arising from ongoing conflict.
Amid falling inflation, the ECB took action in June Monetary policy eased for first time since 2019lowering the central bank’s key interest rate to 3.75%, down from a record high of 4% since September 2023.
China relations
Looking ahead, Europe must now weather the twin storms of a close-fitting November election in the United States, its main trading partner, and friction in trade relations with China. The EU has been targeted by Beijing following its decision in June to impose tariffs. Higher tariffs on Chinese electric cars The imported products were found to have “significantly benefited from unfair subsidies” and posed a “threat of economic harm” to European electric vehicle manufacturers.
Gentiloni stressed on Saturday that trade diplomacy with China and the war in Ukraine must be at the top of the list of challenges facing the new council and that they are more pressing than the emergence of the second U.S. administration under former President Donald Trump.
The EU must “support Ukraine and keep the door open to international trade” but also “abandon our originality in our trade relations with China. But this does not mean that we can accept the idea of international trade and international trade rules” over, ” Gentiloni pointed out.
He downplayed the economic impact of Trump’s victory in November, adding: “I think a change in the US government that means Trump wins the election will certainly not be popular in Brussels, but I don’t think this change will bring to have a huge impact.
wind of change
Gentiloni has yet to announce his next steps after leaving the European Commission at a time when Europe and its legislators face a wave of far-right support.
“When you take on one role, you should never organize your next one. But of course I will contribute to European affairs and maybe also to Italian politics and Italian affairs,” he said on Saturday .
The left-wing politician is unlikely to win the support of Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni, who has nominated European Affairs Minister Rafael Fito of the right-wing Brotherhood of Italy party to the new European Commission.
Far-right victory The substantive basis of the latest European electionsHungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who currently chairs the EU Council, has questioned whether the Vander Leyen Commission is appropriate given the political mood.
“The core of the difficulty is this: the last Commission proved to be very unsuccessful in terms of the competitiveness of the European economy, migration, stopping the war, etc. So in general it was an unsuccessful Commission,” the Hungarian leader said people told reporters.
He added: “So I firmly believe that (people) can change and be able to perform better than they were before. But it’s hard to think of it that way. So I try to support the Commission, but as a rational person I think it is not good that we are ignoring the wishes of the electorate for change while the same institutions still exist in Brussels.
—CNBC’s Katrina Bishop contributed to this report.
