18 April 2024

Invitation letter by President Charles Michel to the members of the European Council

Dear colleagues,

I would like to invite you to our Special European Council on 17 and 18 April.

Our upcoming meeting will centre on bolstering our competitiveness. A new competitiveness deal and a fresh perspective are long overdue. This strong and urgent response is paramount to securing our prosperity and global leadership. In essence, we must collectively bridge the growth and innovation divide vis-à-vis our global counterparts and safeguard our economic, industrial and technological base.

Concretely, our competitiveness deal should cut across all policy areas. I propose that we set out operational taskings across key sectors. The most important among these is the single market, where we must fully capitalise on all its potential, remove any fragmentation and follow up on the recommendations Enrico Letta will present to us. Additionally, companies are struggling under the weight of regulation and administrative red tape. We must work towards dismantling these barriers and ensuring a coherent and smart regulatory framework to ensure that our businesses can grow and thrive. Investments in strategic sectors play a vital role in enhancing our competitiveness – in this context, a combination of private and public financing, alongside a reassessment of our approach to state aid, is imperative. EU businesses are hitting a notable financing barrier in the EU, encountering substantial hurdles in accessing readily available capital to scale up and innovate. Hence, the Capital Markets Union warrants our special attention and firm guidance. It is imperative that we make significant strides in this area, where progress has lagged for too long.

Topics of foreign policy will also feature high on our agenda....

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