PREMIADOS
MARIO DRAGHI
Award 2024
In this 17th edition, the jury decided to award the Carlos V European Award to His Excellency Mr. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (2011-2019) and prime minister of the Republic of Italy (2021-2022), for his leadership at the helm of the European Central Bank, which allowed the European Union to face one of the greatest crises it has experienced since its inception. He implemented a series of decisive and risky measures that, amidst the recession in the European economy, maintained the strength of the euro and the autonomy of the ECB, while also saving the single currency, enabling Europe to emerge strengthened from this crisis. It is also worth highlighting his exemplary promotion of European ethical principles as central axes of economic governance, emphasising his extraordinary capacity, foresight, and dialogue in the service of a united Europe, as well as his attention to and support for youth as guarantors of Europe’s future, tasks that go beyond the strictly economic sphere. All these merits —and more that he possesses— make him, in the jury’s opinion, worthy of the Carlos V European Award in its 17th edition.
An Italian economist, he chaired the European Central Bank from 1 November 2011 to October 2019. During the European Central Bank’s struggle against the effects of the 2008 economic crisis, the Draghi plan for monetary expansion was launched. His words were significant on 26 July 2012, in full sovereign debt crisis, when he announced that “the ECB is ready to do whatever is necessary to reserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough”, and they marked a turning point in the eurozone crisis by calming markets. The policies that followed led to a steady decline in costs of the loans for indebted eurozone members, including Italy.
He has been President of the Italian Government from February 2021 until his resignation in July 2022. He was governor of the Bank of Italy from 2006 to 2011. From 1991 to 2001 he was director general of the Italian Treasury and president of the privatisation committee. From 2002 to 2006 he was vice president for Europe at Goldman Sachs. From 1985 to 1990 he was executive director of the World Bank.
