Leaders to discuss once-taboo policy of favouring European companies, in attempt to regain economic competitiveness
EU leaders are expected to diverge on whether “Buy European” is an answer to Europe’s waning economic fortunes, at a summit on how to secure the continent’s future in a more volatile global economy.
At a moated castle in the east Belgian countryside, the EU’s 27 leaders will gather on Thursday for a brainstorming session on how Europe can regain its economic competitiveness vis-a-vis the US and China, at a time of economic threats and political turbulence.
The question of Europe’s 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’s trade wars and China’s pursuit of economic dominance via huge state subsidies.
Against this backdrop, the EU is considering the once-taboo policy of European preference, namely favouring European companies in strategic sectors such as clean tech. Long promoted by France, Buy European could mean imposing requirements on governments to prioritise locally manufactured goods in public contracts.
