The president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, said on Wednesday that countries in the euro zone should be compelled to take steps to improve the performance of their economies in the same way that they are already required to observe rules on government spending.

At a time when many voters and political leaders are complaining about what they see as the overbearing power of the European Union, Mr. Draghi called for more integration rather than less in a speech on Wednesday in London.

Countries that lag economically are a risk to their euro zone partners and should be required to change their policies, Mr. Draghi said.

“There is a case for some form of common governance over structural reforms,” Mr. Draghi said, according to a text of his remarks. “This is because the outcome of structural reforms — a continuously high level of productivity and competitiveness — is not merely in a country’s own interest. It is in the interest of the union as a whole.”