EU leaders push rival fixes to reverse bloc's 'decline'

EU leaders told industry executives on Wednesday they were committed to transforming the bloc's lagging economy into a global powerhouse able to confront US and Chinese competition.

But leaders offered diverging recipes for tackling Europe's challenges, as they descended on the Belgian port city of Antwerp for what has become an annual meeting of EU business and politics.

The Antwerp summit was the first of two days of crunch talks in Belgium involving EU leaders. All 27 will meet at a Belgian castle east of Brussels on Thursday to thrash out ideas on how to rescue the moribund European economy.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen kicked off the event with a vow that Europe is "fighting for our place in the new global economy".

French President Emmanuel Macron went further, telling business leaders making Europe an "independent power" was the "only" solution to head off economic challenges from China and the United States.

Macron was headed into the talks ready to fight for more joint EU debt, which he said was the "only way" to compete on an economic level with rivals -- and for France's push for the European Union to favour domestic over foreign firms.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz agreed it was "high time for Europe to act" and that after 25 years of "decline" it needed "bold decisions".

But he was lukewarm on Macron's "Buy European" push and avoided the topic of joint debt altogether -- setting his sights instead on the need to slash EU "red tape".

- 'Tear down barriers' -

Revving up Europe's economy has taken on greater urgency in the face of geopolitical shocks, from US President Donald Trump's threats and tariffs upending global trade to his push to seize Greenland from Denmark.

Addressing EU lawmakers in Strasbourg earlier Wednesday, von der Leyen outlined key steps to bridging the gap with China and the United States.

The EU must "tear down the barriers that prevent us from being a true global giant", she said.

A key issue identified by the EU is the fact that European companies face difficulties accessing capital to scale up, unlike their American counterparts.

To tackle this, Plan A would be to advance together as 27 states, but von der Leyen said some member states could go ahead in a smaller group.

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"I want it by 27 but if it is necessary to speed up the whole process, we will go by enhanced cooperation," von der Leyen said.

She also pointed to the importance of signing trade deals that would diversify the EU's trading partners at a time when the United States under President Donald Trump has a different outlook and hiked tariffs.

She told business leaders in Antwerp that these deals will open new export markets and secure the supply of critical minerals, essential for electronic goods such as batteries, and needed for the EU's green transition.

- 'Buy European' push -

One of the biggest -- and most debated -- proposals for boosting the EU's economy is to favour European firms over foreign rivals in "strategic" fields, which von der Leyen has expressed support for.

"We will introduce specific EU content requirements for strategic sectors," she said. 

Macron said it would "preserve" European jobs but Merz said Europe should only use such rules for "critical strategic sectors" and as a "last resort".

France has been spearheading the push, but some EU nations like Sweden are wary of veering into protectionism and warn Brussels against going too far.

The EU executive will also next month propose the 28th regime, also known as "EU Inc", a voluntary set of rules for businesses that would apply across the European Union and would not be linked to any particular country.

Brussels argues this would make it easier for companies to work across the EU, since the fragmented market is often blamed for the weakness of the economy.

The commission is also engaged in a massive effort to cut red tape for firms, which complain EU rules make it harder to do business -- drawing accusations from critics that Brussels is watering down key legislation on climate in particular.

Germany's Merz said he "strongly" supported a 28th regime and went further in calling for the EU to "systematically review the whole set of existing" laws and "deregulate every sector".

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