The bloc’s leaders discussed how to achieve economic growth amid growing tensions with the US and competition from China.
They came to the conclusion that it would be easier by dividing into groups rather than as a bloc. The need to wait for the consensus of all 27 EU members, as the summit participants recognized, deprives Europe of the opportunity to achieve competitiveness.
The informal EU summit took place on February 12 at the Alden Bissen castle in the Belgian province of Limburg. Even before the meeting, European Commission Chairwoman Ursula von der Leyen sent letters to EU members with a proposal that has been controversial within the association for years: to “move forward in small groups” if serious initiatives on economic issues are not approved by the entire bloc, kommersant.ru writes.
From consensus to “advanced cooperation”
Former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, author of a report on EU competitiveness, urged the meeting participants to remove barriers in the single market as soon as possible, to develop steps to reduce energy prices. And to pave the way for possible reforms and changes, he called for enhanced cooperation.
This tool allows a group of at least nine EU member states to decide on joint initiatives and develop them independently of the rest of the bloc.
The mechanism is hardly ever used, but EU countries have used it, for example, in December 2025, when they agreed on a €90 billion loan to Ukraine. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic refused to join the plan, and now the arrangement applies only to the remaining 24 EU countries.
Motivation factor
An unnamed European diplomat told Politico that using the Advanced Cooperation Mechanism could be a motivation for all EU countries, as few would want to fall behind in implementing economic measures that promote prosperity.
One such measure is considered to be the creation of a Savings and Investment Union, which aims to redirect some of Europe’s savings into investments in European businesses.
Another proposal is the introduction of a special legal regime that would simplify the registration of new companies in the EU, taking them from national jurisdictions to the pan-European one. The developers of the initiative said it would allow companies to register online within 48 hours.
