Von Der Leyen Floats Two-Speed Europe Ahead Of Economy Summit

By Nikolaus J. Kurmayer

(EurActiv) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has suggested that EU capitals should move ahead in small groups rather than wait for all 27 to agree, as the bloc struggles to revive its economy.

EU leaders are set to meet on Thursday at Belgium’s Alden Biesen to “brainstorm” a way to overcome the bloc’s economic malaise. 

At the heart of Europe’s struggles is the ill-functioning single market, where different national market rules amount to a 45% tariff on goods and a 110% tariff on services, von der Leyen wrote in a letter sent to leaderson Monday.

“Our ambition should always be to reach an agreement among all 27 member states,” von der Leyen said.

“However … we should not shy away from using the possibilities foreseen in the treaties on enhanced cooperation,” she added, referring to a special provision under which at least nine countries can team up, bypassing the bloc’s traditional consensus requirements.

EU capitals, meanwhile, have been forming informal coalitions in hopes of getting their way on key issues like ‘Made-in-Europe’ requirements, which she called a “necessary instrument”.

Germany’s social democrats launched the E6 in January, gathering the five largest countries of the bloc and the Netherlands, while Christian Democrat Chancellor Friedrich Merz has teamed up with Italy and France on critical minerals. 

Northern countries, for their part, have coordinated resistance to a French push for ‘Made-in-Europe’ requirements. 

The ‘enhanced cooperation’, multi-speed Europe instrument von der Leyen embraced in her letter, has only been used a few times since it was first created in 1997. But now, it could be used to address the bloc’s lack of single-market integration.

Intra-EU trade barriers have been singled out as a major obstacle standing in the way of the bloc’s economic growth. “Diverging national rules and trading conditions across member states deter businesses from achieving their full potential,” the Commission president said. 

She added that gold-plating, a practice particularly popular in her home country, Germany, where capitals add special rules onto EU requirements, will be the aim of a “targeted initiative”.

Together with member countries and the European Parliament, the Commission aims to endorse a “joint roadmap on the single market” at a leaders’ summit in March, the letter added.