European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has renewed her push to make the European Union more competitive by cutting regulatory burdens and accelerating work to deepen the single market, arguing that Europe’s fragmented rules and capital markets are holding back investment and scale.
Speaking in the European Parliament on Wednesday, von der Leyen said simplification had become “urgent”, framing the effort as part of a broader competitiveness agenda as the EU faces pressure from major economies including the United States and China. She highlighted the costs of fragmentation in finance, pointing to 27 national regulatory systems and more than 300 trading venues, and called for “one large, deep and liquid capital market” as a core objective of what the Commission is branding as a Savings and Investment Union.
The Commission President said she intends to ask EU leaders to endorse, at the March European Council, a joint single-market roadmap with a structured timetable running through 2028. The aim is to provide a clearer sequence for dismantling remaining internal barriers and aligning national and EU-level reforms, rather than relying on ad hoc initiatives.
Her intervention comes as EU heads of state and government meet in Belgium on Thursday, 12 February, for an informal leaders’ retreat focused on competitiveness and single-market priorities. According to the European Council, leaders are expected to concentrate on identifying the main priorities for completing the single market, improving the regulatory environment for businesses, and discussing how the EU should respond to economic coercion and unfair competition.
Parliament and Leaders Retreat Frame EU Competitiveness as a Cost-of-Living Issue
The retreat is being held at Alden Biesen and is described by the European Parliament’s think tank as a strategic “brainstorming session” ahead of decisions anticipated at the March European Council. The programme includes input from Enrico Letta, the former Italian prime minister whose work on the future of the single market has been used by several capitals as a reference point for reform proposals.
While leaders are expected to agree on the need to reduce obstacles within the EU’s internal market, the political choices behind the competitiveness agenda remain contested. In Belgium, one of the fault lines is over proposals associated with a “Buy European” approach in strategic sectors, promoted most strongly by France as part of a wider industrial policy response to external competition. Critics warn that such a direction risks sliding into protectionism and could deter investment, while proponents argue it is needed to strengthen resilience and anchor supply chains in Europe.
Industrial Accelerator Act to tighten procurement around EU-made, low-carbon products
Von der Leyen’s line has been to pair simplification with a more integrated market, and to argue that Europe must make it easier for firms to scale across borders. In her remarks this week, she linked the single-market agenda to capital markets reform, suggesting that the EU’s savings are not being channelled efficiently into European growth, innovation and industrial transition because of the way financial markets are organised and regulated nationally.
The Savings and Investment Union agenda is not new, but the Commission is seeking to give it fresh momentum by presenting it as part of a wider competitiveness programme. The European Parliament’s legislative tracker notes that the Commission set out the strategy in a communication in March 2025, with a mix of legislative and non-legislative actions intended to improve cross-border investment and financing conditions within the EU.
Alongside capital markets, the Commission’s longer-term single-market plan has been framed around reducing barriers in services and network industries, and improving the conditions for companies to operate across borders. In her 2025 State of the Union address, von der Leyen said the Commission would present a “Single Market Roadmap to 2028” and referred to areas including capital, services, energy and telecommunications, as well as a “28th regime” concept designed to simplify cross-border business operations.
The immediate political test will be whether the February retreat produces enough convergence to allow leaders to mandate a detailed timetable in March. The European Council’s briefing suggests the discussion is intended to pave the way for a roadmap at the next formal summit, indicating that capitals are being asked to move from general endorsement of the single market to agreement on priorities, sequencing and delivery mechanisms.
For von der Leyen, the messaging is that competitiveness and simplification are now tied to delivery dates. A roadmap to 2028, backed by heads of government, would give the Commission a political basis to press for changes that have repeatedly stalled in the past because of national sensitivities, sectoral lobbying and regulatory divergence. The Belgian retreat, even without formal conclusions, is set to signal which areas of the single market leaders are prepared to treat as a shared priority, and where divisions—over industrial preference, openness and the balance between regulation and risk—are likely to remain.
