Business officials and experts discussed how to reshape the EU's economic vision, tackle key challenges and boost Europe's global competitiveness as IEDC Bled School of Management held its Annual International Presidents' Forum on 15 November.

The participants discussed Europe's position in the global economy and the need for it to find a new competitive dynamic, based on an analysis of Mario Draghi's EU Competitiveness Report.

Tomas Casas i Klett, professor at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, pointed out Europe's many weaknesses, while Kerstin Jorna, the European Commission's director general for internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs, outlined measures planned by the Commission.

Casas i Klett highlighted governance as one of the EU's main problems. He believes that Europe has very capable officials, but the problem is the complexity of the organisation and dispersed responsibility. A strong European economy requires a strong, cohesive EU, he said, because as a union it is inherently weaker than the US and China.

Casas i Klett sees the key strength of the US in its business elites. "Good elites are great for a country. They are the ones that create value, invest in development and drive humanity forward."

He noted the importance of the circulation of elites or diffusion of investment and innovation in different areas. In Europe, the business elite after the Second World War was the automotive industry and this is still the case today.

While the Americans have visionary elites who create value, China's advantage is its very vibrant business ecosystems and supply chains, he noted. He pointed to Europe's declining competitiveness, coupled with falling productivity growth rates and high energy prices.

As Europe's strength he pointed to its common market. However, measures are needed now to strengthen it further; after all, China and the US have a single market in their own right as it is.

"Europe needs a new impetus, a new energy," he stressed. Investment in Europe is high, but it is also investing in the wrong things. He urged for Europe to engage in more risk taking, as without risk there is no return.

Jorna promised prosperity will be the first priority of the new Commission. Rejecting the suggestion in the title of the conference that Europe is a paradise lost, she said the EU is strong and will stay together, because it has a lot of new momentum.

She explained that new business models are being introduced in the EU for the future. Being innovation, mistakes bound to happen on the path to the right solution, but Europe has a great power to learn, Jorna said.

She is aware that Europe's competitiveness needs a new impetus. She highlighted the large green investments that are growing year on year. For example, investments in electricity generation from renewable energy sources.

The official listed some of the measures to strengthen the single market, to make rules more coherent and clearer, to improve business conditions, to make investment easier and to reduce reporting requirements. Investment in energy infrastructure is also needed. "We need to accelerate all these aspects to remain competitive", she stressed.

A panel debate on (de)globalisation heard Iztok Seljak, member of Hidria's management board and president of the Manager Association, assess that the EU in particular is deglobalising and being outpaced by China in particular. He spoke of a tsunami threatening the European car industry and other industries, which he said Europeans are pretending not to see.

Nevenka Kržan, CEO of the port operator Luka Koper, also noted the strong growth in Chinese exports. "In October, we reached a record in container throughput, and an increase in throughput is expected for next year as well."

Matteo Ferazzi of the European Investment Bank said that the EU needs to invest more, both at the level of the bloc and national level. But the steps must be well thought out, especially in terms of where to invest and how to promote research and development.

Archibald Kremser, a member of the management board of NLB bank, also pointed to the weak investment climate in the EU and Slovenia. He argued that capital markets in the EU need to develop more, as they all together represent only a good fifth of the US capital market. This is an obstacle to the development of the European economy. Moreover, European capital markets are too fragmented, which further reduces their role, he said.