EU seeks to take on China, US to reverse economic decline
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The European Union's economy is falling further behind China and the United States, a major headache that will dominate leaders' talks on Thursday as they discuss how to stem the bloc's economic decline and bounce back. The EU has been put further on the back foot as China and the United States have ploughed billions of dollars of state aid to prop up their critical industries. From supply chain disruptions following the coronavirus pandemic to an energy crisis after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Europe's economy has faced multiple challenges in recent years. But it may yet face its biggest: the clean energy and digital transitions that Brussels has made its priority in the coming years will require additional annual investment of nearly 620 billion euros ($660 billion). The EU is fast losing ground on innovation to other global powers. Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said that "radical change" is needed and that "other regions (that) are no longer playing by the rules". The EU's economic stagnation has lasted more than 18 months, growing by only 0.4 percent in 2023 compared to the United States' 2.5 percent and China's 5.2 percent. The EU's 27 member states want to define the strategic priorities for the European Commission's next five-year mandate following elections taking place across the bloc in June. Former Italian premier Enrico Letta will present his report on the EU single market during the leaders summit, which includes proposals to scale up the single market and better harmonize the defense, energy, and telecoms sectors at the EU level. The EU needs to address its industrial decline and the absence of a properly integrated EU-wide financial market. The EU is in need of significant funds to support the green transition and to help Ukraine. The European Trade Union Confederation warned of an "increasingly rapid de-industrialization" with nearly a million manufacturing jobs lost in the past four years. The EU is facing challenges in raising funds and finding political consensus on key issues.

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