Ahead of the upcoming European Council summit, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has sent a letter to European leaders in which he calls for strengthening the competitiveness of the European Union. The summit of EU leaders will take place on Thursday 12 February in Brussels and will focus on key issues of European industry, energy security and the Union's strategic self-sufficiency.
In a letter addressed to European Council President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and other European leaders, Prime Minister Babiš summarised the priorities of the Czech Republic. He stressed that the EU's competitiveness is key to the success of the transformation of the European economy, strengthening security and long-term prosperity.
„Without a strong and competitive industry, the Union will not be able to transform itself, nor ensure security or long-term prosperity. The Antwerp Declaration makes it clear that we need to reconcile our ambitions for transformation with maintaining a strong industrial base,“ said Babiš.
The Prime Minister pointed to the need for accessible and affordable energy, investment certainty, simpler regulation and faster permitting processes. He said these factors are the basis for European competitiveness. „The EU faces major challenges today, including security challenges. We can only succeed through a pragmatic approach, without ideological shortcuts and with respect for the different starting points of Member States,“ He added.
In his letter, Babiš proposed eleven specific points aimed at supporting European industry, ensuring affordable energy prices and removing barriers for businesses. Key proposals include limiting the rise in the price of emission allowances, delaying the launch of EU ETS 2, revising climate targets, simplifying public procurement, speeding up permitting processes, cutting red tape and promoting nuclear power and natural gas.
The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of cross-border energy interconnections, increasing the EU's raw material self-sufficiency, promoting CO₂ capture and storage technologies and developing high value-added industries.
Babiš offered active cooperation and the preparation of concrete legislative proposals that would positively affect the lives of citizens and businesses throughout the EU. He also proposed the establishment of a group of interested states „Friends of Competitiveness“, which could address the individual proposals in detail. The Czech Prime Minister thus wants to ensure that the topic of competitiveness is a central point of discussion before the upcoming summit.
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