By Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders will set multiple deadlines for a deeper single market, more capital for investment and a unified energy market, according to draft conclusions for a November summit focused on the bloc’s efforts to boost its competitiveness.
The leaders, who meet in Budapest on November 8, are responding to warnings that without quick decisions and massive investments, the European Union will fall behind the United States and China in the global technology race.
In draft conclusions seen by Reuters, which could change before or during the summit, the leaders will “stress the extreme urgency of decisive action” to confront a new geopolitical reality and increasingly complex challenges.
Leaders will ask the European Commission to present proposals by June 2025 to deepen the EU’s internal market, one of the EU’s biggest economic assets but still beset by barriers, especially in services.
They will call for the integration of European capital markets by 2027, which could help channel around €33 trillion of private savings into the real economy. Now about a third of that is in current accounts.
The draft conclusions emphasize the harmonization of national insolvency laws and supervisory convergence, two issues on which EU Member States disagree.
The conclusions tell the next Commission, which may take office in December, to present a strategy for competitive industries, including updated antitrust rules and improved access to critical minerals, and proposals for financing Europe’s defense industry.
Leaders are expected to ask the Commission for proposals by mid-2025 to strengthen the EU’s capabilities in quantum technology and AI and accelerate digitalisation across all sectors.
The draft conclusions focus on the creation by 2027 of an energy union, which would increase the flow of clean energy across the bloc with the aim of lowering prices, ensuring energy security and ensuring climate neutrality by 2050.
The draft conclusions not only call for more legislation, but also include a target to reduce the reporting burden on companies by at least 25%. Companies say red tape is one of the main barriers to doing business in Europe. ($1 = 0.9252 euros)
