“Last year I chose to dedicate an informal brainstorming of leaders to defence – that meeting provided a strong boost to the construction of a Europe of defence. In 2026, I would like us to provide the same political impulse to the area of competitiveness”, said President of the European Council António Costa on 2 February, in his invitation letter to European leaders ahead of the informal retreat at Alden Biesen on 12 February.
“In the current geopolitical environment, strengthening our single market is, more than ever, an urgent strategic imperative. The single market can be a powerful driver of simplification for citizens and companies alike. We need to do more to effectively reduce national barriers, and to make the regulatory framework – at all levels, including at European level – more conducive to investment, innovation and company growth”, writes the European Council president.
“For instance, through the creation of a new 28th regime that can help companies scale up, including by reducing administrative burdens. Accelerating the work on a savings and investments union, to better channel savings to productive investments in Europe, will also be a crucial component of this effort”.
Europe must both speed up its ambitious trade programme and “defend its companies from unfair competition through focussed protection in strategic sectors“, writes the Portuguese. “Rules that allow for European preference in some strategic areas, and a systematic approach to economic de-risking, will have to be part of this equation”.
The leaders will discuss the geo-economic context, in particular trade imbalances and strengthening strategic autonomy, as well as “our main priorities to deepen and complete the single market”.
Italy’s Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta, authors of groundbreaking reports in 2024, will also be present at Alden Biesen.
Link to the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/kj9
An op-ed for ‘Made in Europe’. One thousand one hundred and forty-five major European business leaders have also endorsed the call for ‘European preference’ made by European Commission Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné (see EUROPE 13786/16), published in the European press on 1 February, in the context of the future ‘Industrial Accelerator Act’.
“It’s time for Europe to produce more and, above all, more strategically”, the signatories argue, by pursuing administrative simplification, lowering energy costs and securing supplies of raw materials. “We must establish, once and for all, a genuine European preference in our most strategic sectors“, insists the text.
“Whenever European public money is used, it must contribute to European production and jobs”. The signatories come from the metallurgy, shipbuilding, energy, chemicals and solar industries. One signatory represents defence.
The act, currently scheduled for 25 February, aims to strengthen European industrial sovereignty, particularly in the field of clean technologies, by speeding up procedures and establishing thresholds for European content or workforce.
Link to op-ed: https://aeur.eu/f/kja (in French) (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)