The former head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi was presented with the prestigious Charlemagne Prize at a ceremony in Aachen, western Germany, on May 14.
“You took charge of the euro during a time of crisis, and you stabilized the euro and the eurozone,” Chancellor Friedrich Merz said during his speech honoring Draghi.
With his 2024 report on the future of European competitiveness, dubbed the Draghi Report, Merz said Draghi had “pointed the way toward reform with his unsparing analysis.”
“I think you’ll understand why his friends call him Super Mario,” the German chancellor joked.
Who is Mario Draghi?
Draghi is likely mostly remembered as the head of the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB), who worked to stabilize the eurozone during turbulent times. But he had many other career stops along the way.
Draghi started out as a professor of economics in Italy. Later he worked at the World Bank and Goldman Sachs. Over the years, he served on the board of several Italian banks and companies.
From 2006 until 2011 he was the governor of the Bank of Italy, the country’s central bank. It was during his time there that problems started to surface in the US subprime mortgage market. By 2008, the situation turned into a global crisis, especially following the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers, that wreaked havoc on economies around the world.
President of the European Central Bank
Draghi was selected to run the ECB in 2011, in the middle of this turmoil. By this time, the global financial crisis had triggered a Europen debt crisis. This led to austerity measures and bailouts in some eurozone countries, most notably Greece.
Draghi tirelessly defended the single currency and became known for saying the ECB would do “whatever it takes” to stop the euro from failing. This was seen as a turning point in the eurozone crisis.
In 2015, the bank started to buy large amounts of bonds to inject money into the economy. Called “quantitative easing” the program was meant to combat low inflation and weak economic growth.
Critics argue that these policies kept interest rates too low for too long. The bank’s quantitative easing program expanded its mandate and meant some governments had less incentive to work on structural reforms.
“While not every single decision by Draghi can be seen, in hindsight, as successful, the overall balance is strongly positive,” said Francesco Papadia, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel.
Europe “was well served by having him at the helm of the ECB during very difficult times,” added Papadia, who also held senior positions at the Bank of Italy and the European Central Bank.
Prime minister and competitiveness guru
After leaving the ECB in 2019, Draghi was called home to Italy, which was going through a COVID-19 and government crisis.
He stepped in, formed a government and was prime minister for 20 months in 2021-2022 before losing parliamentary support, resigning and handing the reins to Giorgia Meloni.
For many that would have topped off a long career, but Draghi was not finished.
In 2024, he published a hard-hitting report on the EU’s economy that widely became known as the Draghi Report. The paper included 383 recommendations to reverse declining productivity and close the competitiveness gap with the US and China.
The report “has rightly become the blueprint for helping the EU surpass its economic limitations and achieve new strength and vitality in current difficult conditions,” Papadia told DW.
Among other things, it called for more cross-border collaboration, investments in advanced technologies like AI and semiconductors, reducing high energy prices, integrating capital markets and more EU-level governance. Above all, it called for decisive action.
What is the selection committee saying?
“Draghi is being honored for his exceptional achievements, his pivotal role in stabilizing the European Economic and Monetary Union, and his efforts to promote European competitiveness,” the board responsible for the Charlemagne Prize wrote in its press release in January.
“He has proven his exceptional leadership skills in rescuing the euro with his famed ‘whatever it takes’ promise, stabilizing Italy during the pandemic, and now devising a future agenda for the entire continent.”
The board sees the Draghi Report as a call to action “to secure Europe’s place in the world for future generations.”
With the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Iran, and strained relations between the US and most of the world, the prize is being seen as a timely reminder that European unity is indispensable.
What is the Charlemagne Prize?
For centuries, the small town ofAachen has been used as a symbol of a united Europe. It was from here that Charlemagne (ca. 748-814) ruled the largest empire in western Europe since the fall of Rome, a legacy that later led him to be considered a medieval “father of Europe.” The Charlemagne Prize honors those who strive for European unity in a more modern way.
The International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen has been awarded nearly every year since 1950. It is meant to honor an individual or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to European unity.
After the destruction of World War II, the founders of the award wanted to use it to promote peace, cooperation and European integration.
Previous winners include Winston Churchill, Helmut Kohl, Bill Clinton, Angela Merkel and popes John Paul II and Francis. In 2023, the Charlemagne Prize was awarded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people.
Edited by: Andreas Becker
