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No decision EU leaders funding more competitiveness

by AI | 12.Nov 2024 | Europe in brief AI

BUDAPEST (ANP) – All EU leaders find it necessary for Europe to increase its competitiveness. However, opinions on how the considerable investments needed for this should be financed are too divided among the 27 EU member states. This became clear after the informal summit of EU leaders in Budapest.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Photo: Gert Vanden Vingert/AP/dpa

There must be a “multi-annual financial framework” (fund) established, and both public and private money is needed to boost the European economy and make it more competitive. The EU continues to “work on the introduction of new own resources” to make this possible, but the joint final declaration does not go into further detail on this.

Earlier, there was talk in Europe about the issuance of joint bonds, also known as eurobonds. In any case, the Netherlands is strongly opposed to this. The Netherlands also wants nothing to do with a larger EU budget, emphasized Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Friday before the start of the summit.

Closing the innovation gap that the EU has with “our global competitors” is, according to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, the main priority. “We are very good at groundbreaking research, but there is a shortcoming in turning the research results into a business and scaling the product in the European Union market,” said the politician at a press conference after the summit.

It must be made easier for start-ups. Scrapping unnecessary regulations should help with this, said Von der Leyen.

Energy prices in Europe are “still structurally too high and must come down.” That is one of the tasks of the new European Commission, she said.

(8 november 2024)