France, Germany signal unity at EU's Belgium castle retreat

DW News · Feb 12, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Heads of state and government from the EU gathered at an "informal retreat" at the Alden Biesen Castle in eastern Belgium on Thursday, in lieu of a full monthly leaders' summit in Brussels. The talks will focus on reviving and streamlining Europe's economy, with the leaders also set to discuss ways to counter threats from China, Russia and the US. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sought to emphasize their areas of agreement while talking to reporters on arrival. This follows extensive media coverage on differences between the heads of the EU's two biggest economies as the bloc tries to remain competitive on the world stage. "We want to speed up the European Union, we want to make it better, and we want to ensure that we have a competitive industry in Europe," Merz said standing by Macron's side. "I believe we share this sense of urgency, that our Europe must take very clear action," Macron said. EU economies: Competitive without being protectionist?To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Paris and Berlin may share a goal, but not a plan as yet The French and German leaders have so far outlined rather different visions of how to best achieve a more competitive business landscape within the EU. Merz has been calling for the removal of red tape and regulations, reduced reporting requirements for businesses, reduced trade barriers between EU countries and for more international free trade agreements. Macron, on the other hand, has called for issuing more pooled joint debt underwritten by the bloc as a whole, an idea Germany opposes. "We have taken on European debt in exceptional situations — but those were exceptional situations," Merz said after the talks. France has also vocally opposed the recently-agreed free trade deal between the EU and four Latin American countries, following widespread protests from French farmers. In turn, Merz criticized the last-minute delay to the deal's implementation in the European Parliament. Macron hinted that Germany and France were moving closer together on one issue — harmonizing capital markets across the EU — in comments to reporters on Thursday. The European Commission recently proposed streamlining national rules to create a so-called savings and investment union, an old idea that run into obstacles in the past. February drizzle greeted the European leaders for what's dubbed an 'informal retreat' in eastern BelgiumImage: Omar Havana/AP Photo/picture alliance Other leaders show mounting impatience Belgian ‌Prime Minister ​Bart De Wever, who is hosting the summit, called for a focus on affordable power for industry at the meeting. "The main issue for European industry right now is energy costs," Belgian ‌Prime Minister ​Bart De Wever said. The power prices for European industry are more than double those in the US and China. "We are not competitive and we risk losing the petrochemical industry, the steel industry, metals, and of course, this is the base of all prosperity," De Wever said. Other leaders voiced frustration at the pace of change. "There's so much talk and so little action, and this is a chance to reverse that trend," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said. Czech Prime Minsiter Andrej Babis also lamented: "Only words, conferences, no action."Many of the European leaders will be traveling to attend the Munich Security Conference after the one-day retreat in BelgiumImage: dts-Agentur/picture alliance However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck a more optimistic note. "The pressure and the sense of urgency is enormous, and that can move mountains," she said. 'We urge you to move from diagnosis to delivery' On the eve of the retreat near Rijkhoven, leading European industry representatives called on EU leaders to take on the bloc's economic challenges with a greater urgency. "We urge you to move from diagnosis to delivery, and from plans to results, with a single objective: Save our industry. Not next year, not next week, but today," a joint industry statement read. Macron said that the EU should look to meet a June deadline of either reaching a consensus among its 27 member states, or possibly of forging ahead in a smaller group if necessary. "We need to act fast and we need concrete decisions by June," the French president said. "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." Edited by: Darko Janjevic