German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni invited EU leaders to an informal summit in Belgium yesterday (February 12), where important decisions were made.

I am now connected in Germany, with Deutsche Welle (DW) analyst Auron Dodin.

News24: Auron, greetings, What did the EU heads of state and government agree on at the informal summit?
A.Dodi: At the meeting held at the Alden Biesen Castle in Belgium, near the German border, a comprehensive plan was agreed to strengthen the EU's internal market. The aim is to ensure competitiveness against the US and China, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The heads of state and government agreed to accelerate the reduction of bureaucracy and make it easier to start a business. The creation of companies across national borders will be allowed at European level. To this end, the rules on the merger of companies will be revised. The European Commission will present a concrete proposal for companies at the March EU summit. The concrete plan will be ready by June. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that “we are united by a sense of urgency”.

News24: What is the essence of the agreement and how will it be implemented?

A. Dodi: A central element of the agreement is the creation of a savings and investment union. It will mobilise around 10 billion euros, which are lying unused in banks, which are savings for investment. The first phase will be completed by June. Von der Leyen warned that in the event of obstacles from the 27 EU countries, a two-speed Europe will be advanced: that is, decisions will be taken with a small group of countries, with at least nine members. The President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, praised the decisions on deepening the internal market as a potential “turning point”.

News24: Why was this informal EU summit held before the formal summit in March?

A.Dodi: Chancellor Friedrich Merz prefers holding such summits before formal summits in order to discuss freely. This time, Merz organized the summit with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The two agreed on this step in January, when Merz visited Rome. Both invited all European leaders to the informal meeting. Before the meeting, Merz and Meloni distributed a joint one-page document. In it, they mention that Germany and Italy are “the two most important industrialized nations in Europe.” Previously, Berlin structured the agenda of such European meetings with Paris. But after the open irritations in recent weeks, it was not clear whether Macron would participate in the summit.

News24: What are the issues that Germany and France have clashed over in recent weeks?

A.Dodi: The disagreements have been going on since the fall of last year. The latest was France's blocking stance on the EU's free trade agreement with the Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay). Germany, as an export economy, was very interested in it. And it managed to approve Mercosur only with the help of Italy. The German and French press this week have several articles that say that both countries are openly showing their disagreements. This week, before the meeting, Emmanuel Macron gave several interviews to European media. In them, he defended issues that have long caused disagreements between France and Germany. He demanded that Europe take on joint debts, Eurobonds; he defended protectionism, and the favoring of European products. The French newspaper "Le Monde" highlighted that Emmanuel Macron also indirectly criticized Germany's strategic choices, whether in terms of energy, security guaranteed by the US, or dependence on China as an export market.

News24: Why does the French President act like this?

A.Dodi: Observers think that after the failure in politics in France, the French President thinks that he has influence in foreign policy. But European diplomats say that France is asking, without offering anything itself. As an illustration: in her memoirs, former Chancellor Angela Merkel shows that in 2005 she had removed the blockade of the EU budget by Poland (newly admitted to the EU), with German money. She gave 100 million euros from a special fund for negotiations to Poland, for the poorest areas of the country.

Analysts have also been surprised by Macron's recent revival of the Eurobonds topic. Polish media, for example, write that journalists asked Macron whether his request for joint debt had another real goal: to liquidate France's galloping private debt with EU money, mainly at the expense of Germany. But Macron objected, saying that his request was based on the EU's limited resources, according to him.

News24: How has official Berlin reacted to Paris' demands and, above all, how did the summit position itself on them?

A.Dodi: The German mainstream media has particularly addressed the distance between Berlin and Paris. The German government spokesman said that Berlin's Eurobond issue distracts attention from the real issue, "namely our productivity problems." "You can't ask for more money without starting reforms."

According to some sources, just paying off the joint debt created during the Covid-19 pandemic will cost €24 billion a year from 2028 – an amount equivalent to 15% of the EU’s annual budget. This is additional debt for each member state, even if it doesn’t seem like it.

And after the summit, Chancellor Merz made it clear that “I will not agree to financing (the measures) through Eurobonds.” “I do not want this.” Merz said that joint European debts were taken out in exceptional circumstances, for example during the coronavirus pandemic and because of the war in Ukraine. But now, “the EU must make do with the money ‘we have’.” At the summit, Spain found France’s proposal to finance EU measures with joint debt interesting (although this would mean that the stronger countries would support the weaker ones), while Italian Prime Minister Meloni made no comment. Merz said that at this summit, however, the financing of the measures took up little space as a topic.

News24: Do Macron and Merz now keep their distance or do they cooperate with each other?

A.Dodi: Merz and Macron, before the start of the summit, consciously conveyed signals of unity. They arrived at the summit side by side. Merz expressed his satisfaction “that Emmanuel Macron and I are – as almost always – of the same mind.” Macron also made an effort to avoid controversy, saying nothing about Eurobonds. He did not even mention his demand that the EU prefer European firms in any purchases. Statements at the end of the meeting showed, however, that they maintain different views.

It is also appropriate not to look too narrowly at German-French or German-Italian relations. The aim is to find a partner willing and able to act within the EU. Merzi and Meloni are on the same wavelength, wrote the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Meanwhile, President Macron's options are limited, 15 months before his term ends. But in essence, "everyone is looking for a common recipe."