It is rather a gradual erosion of economic vitality that has become increasingly difficult to ignore. Eurostat recently reported that the European Union’s fertility rate has fallen to 1.34 children per woman, the lowest level ever recorded. The European Commission projects that the EU’s population will peak before the end of this decade and then begin a long decline, while the proportion of elderly citizens rises inexorably. Draghi’s warningEU policymaker Mario Draghi’s 2024 report on European competitiveness, commissioned by the European Commission itself, amounted to one of the bleakest official assessments of the continent’s economic prospects in decades. Europe is still wealthy, scientifically sophisticated and home to some of the world’s finest educational and industrial institutions.