Draghi and Collison Join Forces on Rhine Group Think Tank

Two prominent figures have joined forces to launch the Rhine Group think tank in Europe. Former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Patrick Collison, co-founder of Stripe, are co-founders of the organization.

The group's mission is to discuss challenges facing Europe's future by convening leaders from government, academia, and business. Research papers will be distributed as pre-reads for these discussions, which will follow the Chatham House Rule.

Draghi served as ECB President between 2011 and 2019 and later became Italy's Prime Minister in 2021. He published 'The Future of European Competitiveness Report' in 2024, outlining proposals for energy policy, industrial strategy, defence, digital infrastructure, and capital markets reform.

The report highlighted Europe's weakness in emerging technologies, with only four out of the world's 50 largest tech firms being European. It warned that if stagnation continues, the continent will lose its ability to fund core state obligations.