Lagarde asks Europe to "lean muscle" and advocates joint purchases of energy and 'commodities'

MADRID, 25 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, considers that the European Union must adopt a firmer position in accordance with its position as the world's main trading bloc and "flex muscle" in defense of its interests, including the possibility of addressing purchases of energy and other basic products jointly.

During her speech at a colloquium at the World Economic Forum held in Davos (Switzerland), the Frenchwoman argued that the EU should not only settle for being the largest market in the world, but also opted for the bloc to become aware of which is also the world's largest buyer.

In this regard, the president of the ECB has been in favor of exploring alternatives to "play as a team" and carry out joint purchases of energy, minerals or other basic products for the European economy as a counterweight to "concerted actions from the side of the vendors".

"The war has shown us how weak we are by 'playing so openly, but it has also allowed us to become aware of how powerful we are if we remain united", said Lagarde, for whom "when it flexes, Europe is an incredible force" , although the central banker has admitted that Europe sometimes scores (goals) in its own goal by slowing down processes and looking at national goals instead of European ones.

"I think we are at a time when Europe can act as a formidable team of players at the same time as a referee," he added, referring to Europe's "formidable power" in multiple fields such as trade or technology, as well as , taking Japan as a reference, in pension fund resources.