The Draghi report: one year on High-level conference on competitiveness On Tuesday 16 September 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Professor Mario Draghi opened a high-level conference to review the Commission's progress in implementing the recommendations set out in Draghi's report on the future of European competitiveness. Read the keynote speech by President von der Leyen Read the keynote speech by Professor Draghi Turning recommendations into reality In September 2024, former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi unveiled his landmark report, outlining the barriers to growth that Europe faces and providing concrete recommendations on how we can overcome them. In January 2025, the Commission presented the competitiveness compass, our roadmap to restoring European dynamism and growth, inspired by the Draghi report. 90% of its flagship initiatives are directly inspired by Draghi’s most pressing recommendations. With more than half of initiatives already delivered, and over €1 trillion mobilised across innovation, clean tech and security, the compass is ensuring Europe remains competitive, sustainable and resilient. Delivering tangible results Six months after the launch of the compass, the Commission has already adopted: 33flagship initiatives14legislative initiatives Since the publication of the Draghi report, the Commission has begun work on translating its recommendations into reality, focusing on a number of priority areas: Innovation€200 billion mobilised for investment in AI, including €20 billion for AI gigafactoriesNew quantum strategyNew start-up and scale-up strategyChoose Europe initiative Defence investment€150 billion in funding thanks to the SAFE initiative Decarbonisation More than €100 billion mobilised via the Clean Industrial DealAction plans for cars, steel, and chemicalsNew 2040 climate targets Finance€70 billion to support innovative companies via TechEUNew strategy for the savings and investment union Business€8.4 billion in savings thanks to simplification measuresNew single market strategy TradeAgreements made with Mercosur and MexicoAgreements with India and Indonesia on the horizon Next steps The high-level conference comes shortly after the 2025 State of the Union address, in which President von der Leyen set out the next phase to strengthen Europe's competitiveness, including investments in digital and clean technologiesnew measures to cut business costs and complete the savings and investment uniona single market roadmap to 2028, covering capital, services, energy, telecoms, the ‘28th regime’, and a new ‘fifth freedom' for knowledge and innovationfresh initiatives in artificial intelligence, quantum, batteries and clean technologies Read the full timeline of upcoming actions Documents 16 SEPTEMBER 2025Factsheet: One year of The Draghi Report Related links Competitiveness compass
On Tuesday 16 September 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Professor Mario Draghi opened a high-level conference to review the Commission's progress in implementing the recommendations set out in Draghi's report on the future of European competitiveness. Read the keynote speech by President von der Leyen Read the keynote speech by Professor Draghi
