Poor Europe! It risks losing its competitiveness! Action must be taken to avert this disaster. A critical issue — the potential loss of Europe’s global competitiveness — was raised by Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase. According to Dimon, Europe is currently "losing the global economic race against the US and China." In light of this, he urged European countries to reform their economies urgently.

"Over the past 10–15 years, Europe's economy has shrunk from 90% of US GDP to just 65%. That’s bad. You are falling behind," Dimon stressed. He noted that while European companies "remain globally relevant and large, their position is weakening," and the region is losing economic strength. He reiterated earlier calls for significant economic reforms to ensure sustainable growth.

Dimon’s comments, coming from the head of one of the world’s largest financial institutions, coincided with rising debate over the need for a large-scale industrial strategy for the region.

Previously, former ECB President Mario Draghi proposed investing around €800 billion per year into industrial development to maintain Europe’s competitiveness against the US and China.

As a reminder, this year the European Commission launched a new initiative to reform the financial system — the “Savings and Investment Union.” The initiative aims to transform European household savings into productive investments and revive capital markets. Currently, €300 billion flows out of the EU to the US every year, while the majority of European household savings remain in bank deposits rather than being invested.

Key components of Europe’s financial reform include centralizing financial supervision, simplifying rules for retail investors, and harmonizing bankruptcy laws. Despite ongoing political divisions among EU member states, European leaders are hopeful that the reform will go beyond declarations and become a tangible, actionable policy agenda.