STORY: Concrete decisions should be taken by the European Union by June on how to make the bloc more competitive, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday (February 12).

"We will see where we are in June and if, in certain areas, we are not advancing as 27 we have the right to opt for reinforced cooperation (among fewer EU members) to go faster," Macron said, naming a need to react to trade pressure from China and the United States, defend critical industries and finance innovation.

Macron arrived with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said the two wanted to make the European Union faster and better, and that the meeting would prepare decisions to be taken at the next formal meeting of leaders in March.

Discussions at the meeting at a Belgian castle will span themes including how to deepen the EU's single market, forge ahead with a union of EU financial markets to allow the bloc to invest at scale and reduce Europe's high energy costs.

Former Italian prime ministers Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta, authors of two influential reports in 2024 on the EU's competitiveness challenge and its single market, have been invited to share their views at Thursday's meeting.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: GERMAN CHANCELLOR, FRIEDRICH MERZ, AND FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, ARRIVING AND SPEAKING BEFORE INFORMAL MEETING OF EUROPEAN UNION LEADERS

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: BILZEN, BELGIUM (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (EUROPEAN UNION - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, AND GERMAN CHANCELLOR, FRIEDRICH MERZ, ARRIVING FOR INFORMAL MEETING OF EUROPEAN UNION LEADERS

2. (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, FRIEDRICH MERZ, SAYING:

“We want to make this European Union faster, we want to make it better, we above all want to ensure that we have a competitive industry in Europe. There are many topics for this. We invited Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi in order to speak precisely about these topics: competitiveness and the European internal market. In four weeks, we will also talk about the financing of the European Union, but today it is above all about these topics. I am pleased that Emmanuel Macron and I, as almost always, are in agreement on these questions, and I expect that today we will take a step forward, without making decisions, but we are preparing decisions that will then be taken in four weeks when we come together for the next regular European Council in Brussels."

3. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, SAYING:

“I believe that we share this feeling of urgency, that our Europe must act very clearly. The assessments have been established. There were the Draghi and Letta reports. There is also an acceleration of the pressure on us, as we can clearly see, with competition, which is sometimes unfair, which is very strong, with very strong pressure from China, with the tariffs that have been imposed on us by the Americans and threats of coercive practices. And so all this demands a reaction. The priority is to have a reaction first in the very short term, which consists of implementing everything on which we agree and going much faster on simplification, the deepening of the single market, energy issues, financing. And this has just been brought up by the chancellor: there is a very strong Franco-German agreement on the capital markets union, which is very important.

BILZEN, BELGIUM (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

4. MACRON SPEAKING

BILZEN, BELGIUM (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (EUROPEAN UNION - Access all)

5. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, SAYING:

“The third (priority) is also to be able, in certain critical sectors, to defend European content, a European preference, in certain sectors that are particularly threatened. And then the fourth priority, which is ours, which was present in the Draghi report, is also to continue financing innovation with public and private financing together. There you are. And so we are going to move forward here. What is important - we have just discussed this with colleagues and together - is really that we need to go fast, and we need concrete decisions by June. Then together, we will see where we are in June and if, in certain areas, we are not advancing as 27, we have the right to opt for reinforced cooperation (among fewer EU members) to go faster.

6. VARIOUS OF MACRON AND MERZ LEAVING