European Union leaders have broadly agreed on a plan to restructure the 27-nation bloc’s economy to make it more competitive as they face antagonism from US President Donald Trump, strong-arm tactics from China and hybrid threats blamed on Russia.
Meeting in a Belgian castle on Thursday, the EU leaders agreed an “action plan” with a strict timeline for the economic restructuring, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “The pressure and the sense of urgency is enormous, and that can move mountains,” she said.
The plan, to be presented formally in March, would include measures to coordinate upgrading energy grids, deepen financial integration and loosen merger regulations to allow European firms to grow to better compete globally, she said. “We need European champions,” von der Leyen said.
European Council President António Costa described the meeting as a “real game changer” as leaders threw their weight behind plans to further integrate and simplify the bloc’s financial systems.
The meeting had started with an image of unity between the two traditional power centers of the EU after each had publicly staked out different strategic positions. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived together, crossing a drawbridge side by side into the 16th-century Alden Biesen castle.
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