Draghi Plan and Implications for the European Legislative Framework
Draghi Plan and Implications for the European Legislative Framework

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyzes the "The Future of European Competitiveness" report (Draghi Plan, September 2024) from a dual perspective—economic and legal-institutional—to assess how its recommendations reconfigure the European Union's (EU) legislative framework for the 2025-2030 period. The research pursues three objectives: (i) mapping the Draghi proposals along the axes of investment-financing, state aid, single market, and economic governance; (ii) identifying the legal instruments through which the Commission and the Council are attempting to transpose these proposals; and (iii) measuring the potential impact on internal market cohesion and fiscal discipline. The methodology combines content analysis of the Draghi report and official documents (proposals for regulations, own resources decisions, state aid guidelines), semi-structured interviews with 22 European decision-makers, and a counterfactual DSGE exercise modeling the effect of introducing a European Competitiveness Fund financed by common debt of 1% of GDP/year. The study's contribution is threefold: it demonstrates the direct link between a technocratic report and an accelerated European legislative agenda; it highlights the tensions between expanding industrial policy and protecting the integrity of the internal market; and it provides an empirical framework to quantify the fiscal trade-offs involved in debt mutualization. The conclusion emphasizes that the success of the Draghi Plan depends not only on the proposed legal architecture but also on the political consensus regarding risk-sharing and maintaining a minimum level of intra-community competition.

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