The Draghi Report on European competitiveness turned two years old on September 9, and the balance of its implementation is negative. According to a think tank that monitors the execution of the proposals, only 15.7% of the recommendations have been implemented overall, and approximately 6% in the digital and technological domain. Alessandro Gropelli, director-general of Connect Europe, which represents the largest European operators in Brussels, including Meo, is even more critical: in telecommunications, nothing has been implemented.
Gropelli identifies three sources of resistance to implementation: member states, lobbies, and foreign powers. As an example, he notes that the idea of requiring large tech companies to financially contribute for the use of European networks, known as "fair share," was "killed in the trade agreement between the European Union and the US." The Digital Networks Act, which included proposals on spectrum, was proposed by the European Commission, but nothing has yet been decided or implemented.
The official argues that Europe fell behind in 4G and 5G, and warns that they do not want to see the same situation repeat itself with 6G. Gropelli translates the risk into concrete examples: the ability of a European port to compete with a Chinese port, or the possibility of a car manufacturer having a modern and sustainable cost structure. "It is not by chance that we are behind in competitiveness," he states, emphasizing that growth in China and the US is driven by technology.
On the question of investment, Gropelli acknowledges that telecommunications operators need to compete in financial markets for capital, choosing between investing in European infrastructure or allocating resources to other areas. The choice, according to him, is clear: putting money in a European operator or an American one, and that determines how much European operators can invest in networks.
