Greek Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis (left) listens as Enrico Letta speaks during the event at the IE Competitiveness Hub in Athens.
Marking 40 years since the signing of the Single European Act, former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta joined Eurogroup President and Greek Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis at the IE Competitiveness Hub in Athens on Tuesday to warn that the European Union must embrace a “mentality of scale” to survive a shifting global order.
The event, “Whither EU Competitiveness?,” co-hosted by the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE), focused on the urgent need for technological sovereignty and financial integration to counter the dominance of the US and China.
Letta, who is currently dean of IE University’s School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs in Madrid, offered a candid assessment of the continent’s cultural barriers to growth. “In Europe, we like small projects. We are small countries … the kingdom of small and medium-sized enterprises,” Letta said. “The problem is that the world has changed in scale, and we have not moved toward the integration of our financial markets.”
He warned that fragmentation has left the bloc in a state of “asymmetric dependence” on foreign powers for energy and finance. “Independence, in today’s world, means the ability to acquire the necessary size,” Letta added.
Pierrakakis echoed this urgency, stating that Europe is already on “Plan B” due to chronic delays in tech investment. He cited the 5G era as a missed opportunity where Europe possessed the technology but lacked the unified regulatory framework to compete.
“We need more integration in Europe, bank mergers, and larger businesses,” Pierrakakis noted, praising Letta’s recent high-level reports for shaping a “common vocabulary” for reform.
The discussion, moderated by Bloomberg Athens bureau chief Viktoria Dendrinou, highlighted that the window for action is closing. Both speakers concluded that a rare “alignment of the stars” offers a unique political opportunity to eliminate trade barriers. “There is no alternative plan,” Letta warned. “If we miss this opportunity, we may never recover the loss.”