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Draghi is used to achieving maximum effect with just a few words.

In 2012, when he was still President of the European Central Bank (ECB), three words were enough for him to save the euro: “Whatever it takes.” Whatever it takes, the bank will do whatever it takes to prop up the European currency.

Draghi has been Italian Prime Minister for almost two months.

Instead of pointed statements, he now chooses actions with international resonance in order to make his agenda clear.

Like in early March, when Italy surprisingly blocked the export of 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca's corona vaccine to Australia.

The Italian authorities had agreed with the EU Commission.

But the lasting impression was that Draghi wanted to send a clear signal with the blockade.

A bang that caused concerns around the world about a European export ban.

Shortly thereafter, he sent Carabinieri to a company warehouse near Rome, where they discovered around 29 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses stored there - almost twice as many as the group had previously delivered to the EU countries as a whole.

Draghi is pushing back onto the European stage

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Draghi aficionados see his energetic approach as a signal to the EU, Paris and Berlin: The Italian is pushing back onto the European stage with a sense of power and a will to shape.

His country should no longer be seen as a problem, but should help shape the EU again.

The time is right, because Chancellor Angela Merkel will step down in the autumn.

She is currently the undisputed most powerful politician in Europe;

Their stamina in the EU summits, which often last late into the night, is legendary.

Euro crisis, refugee crisis, Brexit, pandemic - Merkel has had a decisive influence on European politics.

Whoever follows her will need time to adjust to the new role at European level.

“Super Mario” presents its program for Italy

Italy's new Prime Minister Draghi has presented his plans in parliament - and they are ambitious.

The economist is of course concerned with the economy, but also with environmental protection.

Chief economist David Kohl analyzes the latest developments in Rome.

“A new chancellor;

that will mean a turning point and will also change a lot in the European power structure, ”says Janis Emmanouilidis, Director of Studies at the European Policy Center in Brussels.

"Merkel's departure creates a power vacuum - and Mario Draghi can partially fill that."

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The former central banker brings political capital with him: Draghi has an excellent network at the European level, and many players in Europe have trusted him since he headed the ECB.

His role in the euro crisis gives him a great leap of faith.

“Draghi is too important to just go along with it in the EU.

He wants to make Italy the third major protagonist alongside France and Germany, ”says Italian political scientist Lucio Caracciolo.

There is no question that Italy, as the third largest economy, is relevant for this.

In contrast to its predecessors, Draghi could also claim to use this weight.

His goal is to transform the Union for the benefit of his country, it is speculated in Italy.

Draghi makes no secret of the fact that he is working to preserve the Eurobonds beyond the time of the pandemic.

In the end, there should be an EU with a common budget that helps ailing states in recession phases.

And he is aiming for a reform of the debt rules: "He wants to convert the stability pact in the New Keynesian sense, so that more debt is possible for investments," says Caracciolo.

Macron wants to be the first to meet Draghi

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Draghi has a fellow campaigner on this subject in Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron has been campaigning for a reform of the EU and a larger budget for Brussels since taking office.

For a long time Paris has been working towards a fiscal union and permanent joint borrowing via Eurobonds.

At the EU Council summit in March it became clear for the first time how closely Draghi and Macron are already exchanging ideas on these issues.

During the video conference it seemed as if the two had coordinated with each other in advance.

And indeed: a few hours before the summit, the two heads of state spoke to each other on the phone to agree on a possible ban on the export of vaccines, reveals an advisor to Macron.

Macron's negotiators are currently working flat out to organize a state visit by Draghi to Paris.

Macron's trip to Rome could also be possible.

The main thing is that nobody beats Macron and the Frenchman is the first to meet “Super Mario”.

The advisers to the French President are already emphasizing that the “trust is great” and the “alliance is excellent”.

It is hoped in Paris that Draghi will prove to be a “guarantor of Italian stability and thus European stability”, as one Macron's colleague put it.

Above all, the two agree that the EU should add to the Corona reconstruction fund.

"Both are convinced of this necessity," it says from the Elysée Palace.

For Macron, Italy's return to the ranks of pro-Europeans is invaluable.

As soon as the pandemic allows, Macron and Draghi want to sign a Quirinals treaty - the Italian-French equivalent of the Elysée treaty, with which the former arch enemies Germany and France sealed their friendship and future cooperation in 1963 and the one with the Aachener two years ago Contract was supplemented.

For months, the French have been pressuring Rome to participate in joint German-French technology construction sites such as hydrogen technology and the joint battery production project.

How far these advances will carry is unclear, however.

It is not the first time that there has been speculation about closer cooperation between Italy and France at European level, and nobody knows how long Draghi will stay in power in the volatile Italian politics.

Daniel Gros, who heads the Brussels think tank Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), considers such mind games to be wishful thinking.

"In the past few decades there have been dozens of speculations about a Paris-Rome axis, but nothing ever came of it," says the political scientist.

"The Franco-German understanding is so important because the two countries come from different points of view and behind them are many other member states who have similar points of view." A close partnership between Paris and Rome, on the other hand, is far less interesting for Europe.

Nevertheless, it could cause a stir in the EU in the coming months.