EU Ministers Discuss 'Two-Speed' Europe for Enhanced Cooperation

EU's Two-Speed Strategy Discussion

By Andreas Rinke and Barbara Erling

Background and Context

BERLIN, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Ministers from six leading European economies, including Germany and France, will discuss on Wednesday plans to push ahead with joint projects without the rest of the EU, to facilitate agile decision-making at a time of geopolitical upheaval.

Key Objectives and Plans

The video conference, which is scheduled for 1400 GMT and will also include finance and economy ministers from Poland, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, follows ridicule from officials in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration over the time it takes the 27-country bloc to make decisions.

Responses from Finance Ministers

The idea of forging ad-hoc coalitions allowing some EU countries to pursue projects without the need for agreement from all of them has long tempted some members and has already been applied to key projects including the euro currency.

But it is gaining new momentum as Europe confronts widening insecurity, sluggish growth and deep political divergences.

"Now is the time for a Europe of two speeds," German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Tuesday in Berlin.

SURVIVAL AT STAKE

Klingbeil wants the countries he invited to the call to set a concrete agenda to strengthen Europe's sovereignty and competitiveness, a letter seen by Reuters showed.

"To survive in an increasingly unpredictable geopolitical situation, Europe must become stronger and more resilient," Klingbeil wrote in the letter to his counterparts dated Monday, adding that continuing as before could not be an option.

The invitation said it is meant as a "kick-off", and a follow-up meeting in person on the margins of the next Eurogroup should follow.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has shown a growing willingness to press ahead in Europe without unanimity, be it on the Mercosur trade deal or Ukraine.

FLEXIBLE APPROACH

France has for years pushed to move ahead in smaller groups on policies ranging from steel import safeguards to nuclear energy that remain blocked at the broader EU level. And several of those invited to the call have agreed with the approach.

"Yes, I will participate. The European economy needs to accelerate. Changes are happening too slowly," Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domański told Reuters.

German officials said the advance-group approach would work in different formats, depending on who wants to join which project, and will not be restricted to the six countries.

"If we can create a critical mass by taking the lead together in critical areas, good. It is important that the pace is not set by those who want to do the least," said Jessica Rosencrantz, Sweden's EU affairs minister.

STARTING WITH THE ECONOMY

Germany's letter includes a four-point plan to push forward an EU capital markets union, strengthen the euro and better coordinate investment in defence and the securing of raw materials.

Klingbeil said the coalition also needs to move faster on a Savings and Investment Union to create better financing conditions for European businesses.

On the euro, he called for cutting red tape and enhancing sovereignty in the payment sphere to highlight the currency's role as a safe haven based on predictability and the rule of law.

He urged better cooperation on defence, which he said should be firmly embedded as a priority in the next EU multiannual budget.

Supply chain resilience for critical minerals must also be strengthened, with greater strategic engagement with international partners, he said.

(Additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, Leigh Thomas in Paris, Christian Kraemer and Maria Martinez in Berlin, Jan Strupczewski and Kate Abnett in Brussels, Emma Pinedo and Victoria Waldersee in Madrid, Simon Johnson in Stockholm, Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Joe Bavier)