\n<\/p>\n
EU leaders agreed to move ahead with a \u201cBuy European\u201d policy to protect \u201cstrategic sectors\u201d of European industry, at a summit on how to secure the continent\u2019s future in a more volatile global economy.<\/p>\n
At a moated castle in the east Belgian countryside, the EU\u2019s 27 leaders gathered on Thursday for a brainstorming session on how Europe could regain its economic competitiveness relative to the US and China at a time of economic threats and political turbulence.<\/p>\n
Before the summit, Belgium\u2019s prime minister, Bart De Wever, said Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands were facing \u201can existential crisis\u201d because of factory closures and declining investment, a result of high energy costs, regulation and \u201cChinese dumping\u201d \u2013 unfairly subsidised goods flooding European markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know we must change course,\u201d he said. \u201cYet, it sometimes feels as if we are still standing on the bridge of the ship, staring at the horizon, without touching the helm.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the summit, the European Council president, Ant\u00f3nio Costa, told reporters there was a broadly shared understanding about the need to \u201cprotect and reinforce certain sectors\u201d, naming defence, space, clean tech, quantum, artificial intelligence and payment systems. \u201cOn European preference, I feel that there is a broad agreement on the need to use it in selected strategic sectors in [a] proportional and targeted way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Speaking alongside him the European Commission, president Ursula von der Leyen, promised an action plan to boost Europe\u2019s single market by March, including further \u201csimplification\u201d, reducing regulation at EU and national level; a new regime of company law to boost startups known as EU Inc, as well as plans to integrate Europe\u2019s fragmented capital markets and cut energy prices. \u201cThe pressure and the sense of urgency is enormous and that can move mountains,\u201d she said when asked about EU leaders\u2019 ability to deliver on complex plans that threaten vested interests.<\/strong><\/p>\n The question of Europe\u2019s declining competitiveness has long troubled the EU but gained new urgency when painful vulnerabilities were revealed by the sudden loss of Russian gas in 2022, Donald Trump\u2019s trade wars and China\u2019s pursuit of economic dominance through huge state subsidies.<\/p>\n Against this backdrop, the EU is open to the once-taboo policy of European preference, namely favouring European companies in strategic sectors such as clean tech. Long promoted by France, \u201cBuy European\u201d could mean imposing requirements on governments to prioritise locally manufactured goods in public contracts.<\/p>\n Later this month, the EU executive will publish an Industrial Accelerator Act, which is expected to set targets for European content in a range of strategic products, such as solar panels and electric vehicles.<\/p>\n In a show of unity, France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron and Germany\u2019s Friedrich Merz arrived together at the 16th-century Belgian castle. \u201cWe share this sense of urgency that Europe must take action,\u201d Macron said.<\/p>\n Merz said: \u201cWe want to make this European Union faster, we want to make it better, and above all we want to ensure that we have competitive industry in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n But the two leaders have struck different tones on European preference. Macron told European newspapers this week that European preference should be focused on certain strategic sectors, such as clean technologies, chemicals, steel, automotive and defence, \u201cotherwise Europeans will be swept aside\u201d.<\/p>\n He described European preference as \u201ca defensive measure\u201d and essential because \u201cwe are facing unfair competitors who no longer respect the rules of the World Trade Organization\u201d.<\/p>\n Merz, however, said \u201cMade in Europe\u201d rules may be too narrow and he favoured \u201cMade with Europe\u201d rules that favoured trading partners. He is championing a more aggressive deregulation agenda and trade deals.<\/p>\n Ireland\u2019s prime minister, Mich\u00e9al Martin, said: \u201cWe must protect the open free trade ethos of the European Union in my view. And so there will be debates around that.\u201d<\/p>\n Merz and the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, skirted the issue in a recent joint paper but found common ground on \u201clegislative self-restraint\u201d, or less EU regulation. Both would like the EU\u2019s deregulation agenda to go further.<\/p>\n In another sign of the vitality of the Berlin-Rome partnership, Italy, Germany and Belgium co-hosted a pre-summit gathering of 19 member states. The Italian prime minister\u2019s office, the Palazzo Chigi, said the group discussed initiatives needed to \u201crelaunch Europe\u2019s industry\u201d, including a review of the emissions trading system, the EU\u2019s carbon pricing system.<\/p>\n The flourishing German-Italian partnership has raised questions about the health of the Franco-German relationship, the traditional motor of the European project. Despite a rapprochement in Franco-German relations since Merz\u2019s election, Paris and Berlin diverge on key economic questions.<\/p>\n Merz and Macron also disagree on the EU\u2019s long-sought trade deal with Mercosur. While the German leader has called for speedy entry into force of the agreement with South American countries, Macron dismissed it as \u201ca bad deal\u201d.<\/p>\n Von der Leyen has also sounded a cautious note about \u201cBuy European\u201d. Speaking in the European parliament on Wednesday, she said European preference was \u201ca necessary instrument\u201d in strategic sectors. \u201cBut I want to be clear \u2013 it is a fine line to walk,\u201d she said, adding that every proposal must be \u201cunderpinned by robust economic analysis and be in line with our international obligations\u201d.<\/p>\n The Buy European question is only one part of a sprawling summit agenda at Alden Biesen in Limburg, an estate founded in the 13th century by Teutonic knights. Leaders discussed deregulation, fragmented capital markets that constrain green and digital investment, and barriers in the European single market that hamper trade.<\/p>\n Von der Leyen told MEPs there was \u201ctoo much gold-plating\u201d \u2013 extra layers of national regulation that made life harder for business. As an example, she said a truck in Belgium was allowed to weigh 44 tonnes but could carry only 40 tonnes if it crossed into France.<\/p>\n The leaders heard from Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta, two former Italian prime ministers who produced agenda-setting reports on the economy. Draghi said last week that the current economic world order was \u201cdead\u201d and Europe risked becoming \u201csubordinated, divided and deindustrialised at once\u201d.<\/p>\n He said Europe needed to move from \u201cconfederation to federation\u201d, adding that veto power for individual member states in key policies made countries \u201cvulnerable to being picked off one by one\u201d.<\/p>\n Acknowledging the EU\u2019s difficulties in taking decisions, von der Leyen said she was open to moving ahead with passing laws on integrating the EU\u2019s capital markets in a smaller formation, if there was no agreement at 27.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to make progress and tear down the barriers that prevent us from being a true global giant,\u201d she said, referencing plans for integrating the European financial system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EU leaders agreed to move ahead with a \u201cBuy European\u201d policy to protect \u201cstrategic sectors\u201d of European industry, at a summit on how to secure the continent\u2019s future in a more volatile global economy. At a moated castle in the east Belgian countryside, the EU\u2019s 27 leaders gathered on Thursday for a brainstorming session on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[3520,505,2179,715,807,1294,328,2719],"class_list":{"0":"post-44377","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-agree","9":"tag-ahead","10":"tag-buy","11":"tag-european","12":"tag-leaders","13":"tag-move","14":"tag-policy","15":"tag-union"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}