Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Although the leaders of the European Union countries are busy discussing many political and security files during discussions that begin today in Brussels and will last for two days, the message of Charles Michel, President of the Union Council, inviting the leaders to attend the summit, referred to economic files and their importance during the discussions. Michel said, “Our meeting will focus on enhancing our competitiveness.” A new agreement on competitiveness and a new perspective is long overdue. This strong and urgent response is critical to securing our prosperity and global leadership. In essence, we must collectively close the growth and innovation gap vis-à-vis our global counterparts and protect our economic, industrial and technological base.
Concretely, our agreement on competitiveness should cover all policy areas. I suggest that we define operational tasks across key sectors. The most important thing is the single market, where we must fully exploit all its potential, remove any fragmentation and follow the recommendations that Enrico Letta will give us. In addition, companies suffer under the weight of regulation and administrative bureaucracy. We must work to dismantle these barriers and ensure a coherent and smart regulatory framework to ensure our business grows and thrives. Investments in strategic sectors play a vital role in enhancing our competitiveness – and in this context, combining private and public financing, along with re-evaluating our approach to state aid, is imperative. EU companies face a notable financing barrier in the EU, where they face significant barriers in accessing available capital for expansion and innovation. Hence, the Capital Markets Union deserves our special attention and firm guidance. It is necessary to make great strides in this area, as progress has been delayed for too long.