Mario Draghi and Patrick Collison Launch Rhine Group to Boost EU Competitiveness

Former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Stripe CEO Patrick Collison have founded the Rhine Group, a new think tank based in Switzerland. The organization aims to relaunch European competitiveness by transforming the recommendations of the 2024 Draghi Report into a concrete agenda for reform. Luis Garicano, a Spanish economist and former MEP, will serve as the executive director, while Draghi and Collison act as co-presidents.

The group consists of a diverse membership of economists, entrepreneurs, academics, and political figures. Notable members include Nobel laureate Philippe Aghion, former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, and Zanny Minton Beddoes of The Economist. Italian representatives include Vittorio Colao, Andrea Pignataro, Lucrezia Reichlin, and Francesco Giavazzi. Other members include the heads of Shopify, Atomico, and Klarna, as well as former French Minister Bruno Le Maire.

In their founding documents, the group warns that Europe is currently on a trajectory of decline. They highlight that only four of the world's fifty largest technology companies are European and argue that the continent is weak in emerging technologies. The founders state that this decline is not inevitable but will occur without urgent intervention. They argue that stagnation would eventually compromise the state's ability to fund essential services such as defense, healthcare, pensions, and education.

The Rhine Group will operate as an independent and non-partisan entity. Its work will involve discussions based on research papers conducted under the Chatham House rule, which allows participants to use the information gathered without attributing it to specific individuals.