EU leaders adopt declaration to boost Europe's competitiveness

The leaders of European Union countries have adopted a new declaration aimed at enhancing Europe’s competitiveness.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made this announcement during a press conference following the informal EU summit in Budapest, Caliber.Az reports per Russian media.

Orban stated that the declaration stresses the need for "immediate action" to tackle several critical challenges facing the EU. He added that all summit participants were in full agreement with the declaration’s objectives.

Key priorities outlined in the declaration include reducing administrative burdens on businesses, lowering high energy prices, strengthening the EU's common capital market, and expanding research and development (R&D) initiatives across Europe.

In the context of a shifting geopolitical landscape, the EU is committed to achieving economic prosperity, boosting competitiveness, and becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent. The declaration also emphasizes the importance of ensuring the EU's sovereignty, security, resilience, and global influence.

The declaration aligns with earlier commitments outlined in the Versailles and Granada declarations, as well as the EU’s strategic agenda for 2024-2029. EU leaders reaffirmed their commitment to making the Union more sovereign, productive, competitive, and sustainable. Key to these efforts will be the EU’s cohesion policy, which aims to foster convergence and ensure a level playing field both within and outside the Union.

To support these goals, the leaders stressed the urgency of implementing a new European competitiveness pact. Reports such as Much More than a Market by Enrico Letta and The Future of European Competitiveness by Mario Draghi have laid a strong foundation for advancing this agenda. The leaders also highlighted the importance of closing the innovation and productivity gap, both between the EU and its global competitors, and within the EU itself.

By Vafa Guliyeva