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European business leaders warned on Tuesday that the region risks falling behind its peers in the US and Asia if it fails to innovate and adapt to a changing world, with changes in global politics expected to accelerate during President Donald Trump’s second term. .
Europe was “always behind” its peers in Asia and the US in terms of innovation, said Mario Greco, the company’s CEO. Zurich Insurancehe told CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“In this very fast-moving world, with many innovations, it is a wake-up call, once again, for Europe. And I hope Europe takes it seriously,” said Greco.
“Take all the developments in AI (artificial intelligence) and digital. Europe hasn’t invested in it, like America and China have. It’s also the integration of financial markets in Europe. It’s still (the problem) how complicated it is. It’s doing business in Europe… And that’s why I say again, Europe must wake up,” added Greco.
Greco added that Europe was too preoccupied with regulation and stifling progress, especially in the new technologies needed to drive growth, and the “America First” policies we’re entering the Trump 2.0 era mean the region will have to defend more. economic interests
President Donald Trump signed one numerous executive orders on his first day in office on Monday, including withdrawing from the Paris climate accord and scrapping the 50% electric vehicle target, as well as moves to crack down on immigration.
At the world level, along with expressing Tariffs of 25% could be levied on Mexico and Canada as soon as FebruaryTrump also sent a warning signal that the European Union must buy more American goods, including oil and gas, or face tariffs.
Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan told CNBC that the Trump 2.0 era was a “big time for Europe,” in which the region needs to deregulate and boost competitiveness.
“Europe has to decide now, in a world where the US is deregulating so much and trying to increase competitiveness, whether Europe will continue to hold its own, continue to increase regulation in the (European) Commission, many times by individual countries, or we will finally get a pro-competitive and pro-innovation Europe an environment?”, he asked.
“We’ll have to see. History suggests that while there’s a lot of talk, there’s not a lot of action coming out of the (European) Commission. And right now, this is the time. Because if not, I think Europe is going to get even further behind the US.” , he said.
Encourage competitiveness
European policymakers seem to be aware of the urgent need for innovation and deregulation in the face of rising economic competition and competition from the US and China.
“The new Trump administration should be a wake-up call for Europe,” according to Belgian Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, Reuters reported on Monday. “Instead of focusing on retaliation (against U.S. tariffs), we should focus on Europe’s challenges: reducing competitiveness and the widening productivity gap we face,” he said.
ING CEO Steven van Rijswijk said Europe needs simplified and more harmonized regulation across the bloc to boost competitiveness and labor productivity, a growing problem for the continent. He also stated that more investments are needed.
“A lot of investment needs to be made in infrastructure, a lot of investment needs to be made in Europe’s strategic autonomy in terms of technological infrastructure, those are the things that need stimulation,” he told CNBC. alongside the WEF.
Ana Botín, executive president of Banco Santander, speaking at a panel discussion on the future of growth, said governments need to develop frameworks to trigger growth “in the right way, through redistribution (and) thinking about what AI means.”
“We are not a museum,” he said of Europe. “We are in danger of becoming a museum. But who develops the latest vaccines? A lot of innovation is really happening in Europe. We have a large number of startups, the problem is that they start here and then go to the United States. .”
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– CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist and Chloe Taylor contributed to this story
