On Tuesday 10 March, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever co-hosted an informal videoconference on European competitiveness with German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
More than twenty European heads of state and government took part, as did the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, according to a press release from the Belgian government. This meeting allowed leaders to align their priorities ahead of the European Council of 19 March.
“The time for action has come. European industry expects concrete measures to strengthen its competitiveness. Leaders shared a strong consensus that the EU must deliver tangible results in the short and medium term, including through regulatory simplification, structural solutions to the persistently high energy prices that European companies and industries have faced for years, and further strengthening of the Single Market”, according to the press release.
The participants “underlined the importance of a strong and more deeply integrated Single Market that is also better protected against unfair competition”. A breakfast on the same theme had already been convened at Alden Biesen (see EUROPE 13807/1). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)