European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Jose Luis Escriva warned on Thursday that Europe faces a "more complex and, in many aspects, more adverse" international environment. Speaking in Bilbao, he pointed to "geopolitical fragmentation" and the emergence of competing global blocs as threats to the multilateral order that has long supported European prosperity.
Escriva stressed that military conflicts also have "direct repercussions on trade flows, global value chains and, of course, the international financial system."
He underlined Europe's external vulnerabilities, "energy, technology and finance," and said that with "accelerated technological change, led by the United States and China, and a declining demography, the urgency of a strategic response becomes evident." "Europe needs to articulate a clear, ambitious and cohesive strategic response … to project ourselves more solidly on the international stage," he stressed.
