Why Belgium wants ideas from big business on how to fix the EU

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good morning. Today, the European Commission issued a long-awaited review on how to strengthen Europe’s economic security, including by protecting key industries from foreign interference, increasing national resilience and reducing over-reliance on third-country suppliers. announced a proposal.

Here I reveal Belgium’s plans to host a high-level summit of corporate CEOs next month and our Madrid team reports on the Spanish capital’s important sporting victory over its Catalan rivals .

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Belgium is good at organizing political summits of international organizations that it hosts. Now, the EU is organizing a gathering of Europe’s top business leaders as part of its pitch to the industry that it has not forgotten them amid all the geopolitics.

Background: Belgium holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union and has made improving the competitiveness and efficiency of the single market a key focus during its six-month term.

The trading hub of Antwerp is scheduled to host the summit on February 20, welcoming about 60 chief executives from across Europe, according to people involved in the preparations.

The guest list is still being finalized, but it is expected to focus on energy-intensive industries and major companies, and hear their views on how best to attract more investment and drive growth.

“They’re taking this topic pretty seriously, and they see this as a way to make a big statement to the company and add momentum to the political debate,” said one executive briefed on the event. Told.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo has called for an “industry agreement” to complement the EU’s Green Deal and create incentives for businesses as the EU moves forward with the legal reforms needed to advance its green transition.

De Croo’s government hopes that he and the European Commission are leading the EU in a direction that the other 26 member states will soon follow.

The current “Geopolitical Commission” has spent much of its term in office fighting epidemics and wars, but the new committee to be established after the EU general elections in June will focus on economic fundamentals within the region. Many people predict that it will.

Belgium asked former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta to write a report on the current state of the single market, and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asked fellow former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to review the competitiveness of the single market. asked him to write a similar report for the

Between themselves and the 60 or so CEOs who will gather next month, De Croo and von der Leyen should have a pretty good idea of ​​where to start.

Chart of the day: Shuffle the pack

The two largest political parties in the European Parliament, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (S&D), will likely lose their seats in the next EU elections. Groupe (ID) will win enough seats to displace the liberal Renu from third place. Read the full forecast published today by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

pour oil on the flame

Madrid secured the right to host the country’s Grand Prix from 2026 with a thrilling victory over Barcelona in the eternal race between Spain’s two capitals. write carmen muela and Bernie Jopson.

Background: F1 has been coming to Barcelona since the 1990s, but yesterday the racing association announced a 10-year deal with Madrid. It comes at a sensitive time for regional politics, given Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s controversial agreement with Catalan separatists to remain in power.

For Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s Madrid region, F1’s decision plays into the narrative that Barcelona has lost some of its charm while Madrid is growing economically.

Speaking alongside F1 president Stefano Domenicali, Ayuso said the deal would generate more than 450 million euros in annual revenue and around 10,000 jobs.

“This is one of the biggest sporting events in the world and we are proud to be hosting it again in Madrid after more than 40 years,” she said, referring to Madrid’s last race in 1981.

Mr. Ayuso, of the conservative Popular Party, is a leading critic of the amnesty offered by Mr. Sánchez to Catalan separatists to secure enough votes for a second term.

Catalonia’s pro-independence regional government says it will “work to expand” F1’s presence in Catalonia beyond 2026, and Domenicali rules out staying in Barcelona if he somehow moves to Madrid. He said it was not a thing.

José Luis Martínez Almeida, the mayor of Madrid and another party politician, sought to lower temperatures. “This is not Madrid versus Catalonia,” he said. “This is not against anyone.”

what will you see today

1. European Commission presents economic security package.

2. Belgian Interior Minister Anneliese Verlinden and EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson launched the European Ports Alliance to fight drug trafficking in Antwerp.

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