Ursula von der Leyen announced an ambitious restructuring of her European Commission, adopting some of former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s proposals aimed at making the bloc more competitive.

By the standards of such reports, Mr Draghi’s is commendably plain-spoken (thereby winning an endorsement from Elon Musk, who aspires to be a scourge of obscurantist bureaucrats). The former Italian prime minister and president of the European Central Bank speaks with authority and much of what he calls for is desirable.

A long-awaited report on how to rescue Europe’s economy from weak growth and red tape is in. The question is, how much of its recommendations will actually be enacted by the often slow-moving politics of the European Union?

Stark recommendations in the report risk being thwarted by a European leadership vacuum – and a lacking sense of urgency.

The continent needs investment on a par with the Marshall Plan and a lot more innovation, says the former central banker

In a 400-page report, the former ECB president analyzes why the EU is lagging behind the US and China, and calls for more joint borrowing and investment.

The report said the EU needed to push ahead with a number of reforms of capital markets and financial rules, which have been debated for years. At present EU countries had different laws covering insolvency and withholding tax that remained “substantially unaligned,” it said.

The research based pharmaceutical industry has welcomed Mario Draghi’s report, published by the European Commission, outlining proposals on how Europe can regain its competitive edge and the critical role of innovative industries in achieving this.

Report was supposed to jump-start an industrial revival, but there are political obstacles and it will require unity on China policy The ink was barely dry on Mario Draghi's long-awaited plan to propel Europe's withering industry into line with Chinese and American rivals on Monday when the bad news began raining in from the Arctic Circle.

European countries are facing challenges in competing in global markets. Former Italian Prime Minister and former ECB President Mario Draghi proposed a recovery plan that wasn't well-received by everyone.