Leaders of the European Union will meet next Thursday at Alden Biesen Castle in Belgium for an informal retreat devoted to strengthening the single market, against a geo-economic backdrop marked by intensifying international rivalries and persistent trade imbalances.
In his invitation letter to heads of state and government, European Council President Antonio Costa says the meeting aims to inject fresh political momentum into European competitiveness, following on from a previous informal session on defence which, he noted, helped accelerate the building of a Europe of defence.
For 2026, the European Union is seeking to make the single market a central driver of growth, innovation and resilience. In the face of current geopolitical tensions, Antonio Costa considers its strengthening to be an urgent strategic imperative.
He therefore calls for an effective reduction of persistent national barriers and the establishment of a regulatory framework more conducive to investment and business development, at both national and European levels.
Among the avenues being considered is the creation of a new “28th regime”, designed to facilitate the creation and expansion of companies across the EU, notably by easing administrative burdens.
Discussions will also focus on accelerating the Savings and Investment Union, seen as essential to better channel European savings towards productive investments and to strengthen the financing capacity of the European economy in a context of heightened global competition.
The issue of the critical size of European companies will also be central to the talks. In key sectors such as digital, telecommunications, financial markets and energy, many companies still lack, according to the President of the European Council, the scale needed to sustain sufficient levels of investment and innovation.
“To prevail in the face of global competition, it is necessary to consolidate the single market so as to enable competitive companies from across the EU to grow,” he stressed.
Greater integration and consolidation of the single market are, in his view, essential to allow European companies to face international competition, while ensuring affordable and safe services for European citizens.
Trade openness of the Union of Twenty-Seven will also be on the agenda. While the EU has pursued a diversification strategy, notably with major partners such as India, Antonio Costa stresses the need to strike a balance between openness and protection.
The European Union will, he argues, need to accelerate its trade agenda while equipping itself with targeted instruments to protect its companies against unfair competition in strategic sectors, incorporating European preference mechanisms and a more systematic approach to reducing economic risks.
In summary, this informal retreat will revolve around two main pillars. The first will focus on the EU’s positioning in the new global geo-economic context, marked by heightened competition, unfair trade practices and risks of economic coercion, particularly in the areas of raw materials and critical technologies.
The second pillar will concern internal policies, with an emphasis on completing the single market, scaling up European companies and strengthening economic resilience.
The meeting will open with the traditional exchange with the President of the European Parliament, followed by discussions among the 27 with Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta, authors of landmark reports on European competitiveness and the future of the European single market, before a final session aimed at identifying the tools and policies to be mobilised to sustainably strengthen the EU’s competitiveness.
The conclusions of this informal session are expected to feed into the preparatory work for the formal European Council meeting scheduled for March, as the EU seeks to assert its strategic autonomy and its capacity to act in an increasingly constrained international environment.
