Europe must move from a fragmented single market to “one market” if it wants to compete with the US and China and achieve strategic autonomy, former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta has said.
Speaking at an event in Dublin, Letta said the only effective response to Donald Trump’s coercive campaign against Europe was deeper integration.
He noted that Ireland’s upcoming presidency of the European Union comes at a defining moment for the bloc.
“We will see if it is possible to go in that direction or if the national resistances will block – again – integration in terms of competitiveness.”
RM Block
Letta was speaking at the launch of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at DCU (Dublin City University) co-ordinated by the Dublin European Law Institute.
Last week European leaders, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin, endorsed an ambitious blueprint to deepen the bloc’s single market under the banner “One Europe, One Market”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will present the plan at an EU Council summit next month, pledging clear timelines, targets and delivery deadlines.
The plan draws on Letta’s 2024 report on the future of the European single market.
Letta, who is president of the Paris-based Jacques Delors Institute, described Trump as a “fundamental boost” and “an accelerator” for European integration.
“When the single market was created, the world was totally different,” Letta said, noting that European countries back then were big or medium-sized countries.
“At that time, Italy was, economically, as big as China and India together ... now they are 20 times bigger,” he said.
“The single market today is no more the tool to deal with the world and these giants, this is why we have to pass from the single market to one market,” Letta said.
“Energy, connectivity, financial services ... in reality we are 27 not one and if we keep the fragmentation we are not able to play at scale,” he said.
“The most effective reaction to Trump is to create one market because Trump takes advantage of the internal divisions of the EU,” he said.
On Europe’s stance, which has been criticised as weak and ineffective, Letta said: “If we react by jumping into the ring and boxing with him with the same method, language and behaviours we will divide ourselves and we will lose.
He said he was in favour of establishing a “Made in Europe” preference in public contracts while warning that Europe must not become “protectionist” to protect itself.
“The European Union is successful when were are open,” he said, Ireland was the best demonstration of that policy.
On the recent Mercosur trade deal with South American countries, which Ireland opposed, Letta said that while understanding the political sensitivities, he was convinced the deal would prove economically advantageous.
Expanding Europe’s trade orbit was also key to responding to Washington’s protectionist pivot.
“The main reaction to Trump has to be based on three [principles]; one Europe, one market; opening new trade routes; and showing that we can support Ukraine standing alone,” he said.
