EU summit ends with no substantive agreement, serious divisions among member states
Despite disagreements on corporate tax rules and capital market integration, leaders agreed on the need to mobilise resources for strategic sectors to improve EU competitiveness, which will require a new agreement, and will continue to discuss the internal market reform plan Enrico Letta, President of the Jacques Delors Institute, has prepared for the European Commission.
The agreement approved after several hours of debate is still only a declaration of intent and is expected to have a tangible outcome after the forthcoming European Parliament elections. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stressed the need for Europeans to be more than consumers of technology produced elsewhere and called for measures to improve access to capital, reduce energy costs, tackle skills shortages and strengthen trade links.
Letta's aforementioned report proposes extending the single internal market to the energy, telecoms and financial sectors, and suggests giving the EU greater collective power to support companies, which is currently the prerogative of national governments. EU standards should also be introduced to harmonise tax systems.
"The European Union needs a new deal to boost European competitiveness, complemented by a genuine Energy Union based on a strong single market, significant investment, digital and green transition, less red tape, better regulation and a strong industrial policy", stressed Charles Michel, President of the European Council, at the closing press conference.
Leaders also considered a plan for a Capital Markets Union (CMU) to further integrate the 27 member states, to strengthen individual bond markets and provide more risk capital for European start-ups and SMEs. But smaller countries fear that regulatory powers could be concentrated in larger countries such as France. Despite the reservations of some member states, there is a consensus on the need to boost competitiveness.
"It was a very long debate [on the Capital Markets Union] because we have different starting points, but it is also an essential struggle if we want to succeed in the future," Emmanuel Macron said of the negotiations.
The French President noted that the leaders had agreed on "a negotiating order, principles and a roadmap" to make progress on this issue, adding that they would continue talks at the next leaders' meeting in June.
Macron added that the harmonisation of EU countries' fiscal rules was not part of the discussion, and said the meeting had allowed misunderstandings about what a capital markets union would be about to be resolved.
However, there were very serious divisions among member states: more than ten countries opposed the original proposal.
Speaking at a press conference after the event, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Ukraine needs the EU's support more than ever and that the issue of the delivery of air defence systems is "extremely important".
Scholz called on the other member states to also send Patriot air defence systems and ammunition to the Ukrainian army, adding that he hoped everyone would act as quickly as possible.
"Some states can afford to give up their systems so that Ukraine can better defend itself," Scholz said.
Cover photo: EU
