“The time to act is now”

At the European Industry Summit, the Federal Chancellor appealed for the European Union to quickly become competitive again. To this end, he said, it was necessary to reduce bureaucracy, strengthen the Single market and support free trade.

Quick decisions for more growth

The Federal Chancellor pointed out that the growth gap between the EU and the USA was widening and urgently needed to be closed. He said that while China's economy had grown by around eight percent per year in recent years, the growth rate was two percent in the USA and only one percent in the EU. According to the Federal Chancellor, an ambitious European competitiveness agenda is to be negotiated at the EU Leaders Retreat, which is taking place on Thursday. The goal is then to take the first decisions on this at the next European Council.

According to the Chancellor, reducing bureaucracy is important for competitiveness, as too much regulation inhibits growth. In contrast to China, he said, projects in the EU take far too long to be implemented. Chancellor Merz therefore suggested that tacit authorisation should be introduced for most approval procedures. This means that projects are deemed to be approved after a certain period of time if the competent authority does not make a decision during this time.

Strengthening the European Single Market

The Federal Chancellor is in favour of quickly introducing the so-called 28th regime to improve the EU's Single Market. This involves a common European legal framework for companies that otherwise often have difficulties complying with several national legal systems in their work. Other important measures cited by the Federal Chancellor were a good common energy market to ensure lower energy prices, fewer regulations in the field of artificial intelligence and better merger rules.

"Made with Europe" - shaping smart trade policy

The Federal Chancellor also emphasised the importance of good trade policy and the rapid conclusion of new free trade agreements. At the same time, he said the rules for favouring European products should be used wisely - namely only for critical, strategic sectors and only as a last resort. Merz stated that he was in favour of a "Made with Europe" approach.

The European Industry Summit serves as a forum for dialogue between politics, business and science. Around 400 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and high-ranking industry representatives from 25 sectors were present at this year's summit. The event was organised by the European chemical industry association (CEFIC).

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