French president tells fellow European leaders the bloc is falling behind the US and China because of over-regulation and under-investment

The EU “could die” unless it makes itself more competitive with the US and China, Emmanuel Macron has warned.

The French president said the bloc was over-regulating and under-investing at the Berlin Global Dialogue event.

Washington and Beijing both outstripped the EU in economic output and investment, he said, before calling on the bloc to complete its banking union package of financial rules.

Member states also needed to press for global trade rules to be kept fair, he added, according to Bloomberg.

  • @grue
    link
    English
    142 months ago

    Also you need at least a reasonable amount of economic output to have good quality of life. I’m not saying good quality of life should be defined as full-blown sigma grindset consumerism, but I don’t think most people would define it as cottagecore subsistence farming, either.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      4
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      You know, if you look at actual subsistence farmers, I never get a cottagecore vibe. They can and do use modern bits and pieces to make their work a little less back-breaking, as they can scavenge or occasionally buy them. A pole lathe is less aesthetic when it’s powered by a cut-off bungie cord.

      • @Fosheze
        link
        English
        32 months ago

        Yeah, it’s less cotagecore and more post-apocalyptic.

      • @grue
        link
        English
        12 months ago

        Don’t mind me; I was just going for linguistic flourish rather than exact verisimilitude.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      22 months ago

      a reasonable amount of economic output

      There’s a vast difference between "reasonable " and “max_profits nothing else matters”.