Faced with US and China, EU leaders call for sweeping competitiveness deal

euronews (in English)

The 27 leaders of the European Union have called for a "new competitiveness deal" to close the economic gap with its global rivals and reverse a worrying trend of industrial decline.

Transcript

00:00 The EU agrees it needs to do something and do it quickly to compete with the likes of

00:06 rivals China and the United States. But its leaders have disagreed on what. After much

00:13 debate at a summit in Brussels, they endorsed calls for a new competitiveness deal aimed

00:20 at reversing the worrying trend of industrial decline.

00:25 The single market is the jewel of the crown, we all know, and the single market has to

00:32 be completed, extended, and we have to concretely go in the direction on how the single market

00:40 can profit to the citizens.

00:47 His report suggests extending the EU market to sectors of financial services, energy and

00:53 electronic communications. Boosting innovation is also a key point.

00:58 But the big issue remaining is how to find the money needed to improve competitiveness.

01:04 One idea is promoting state aid at the EU level. Enrico Letta says that public money

01:10 should play a role. Some member states support the issuing of common EU debt.

01:18 The meeting ended with the leaders calling for policies that will enhance Europe's economic,

01:25 manufacturing, industrial and technological base to ensure economic resilience and industrial

01:54 renewal.

01:54 (whooshing)

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