00:00The efforts by the European economy to stay afloat in a geopolitical landscape marked by
00:05growing competition among major economic blocs. In about an hour, the Jacques Delors Friends of
00:11Europe Foundation will launch its Single Market Summit 2026, attended by some big names like
00:18former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, president of the Delors Institute, who will
00:23also give the opening address. But before he does that, he's on Europe Today this morning.
00:29Welcome, Prime Minister, and thanks for making time for us.
00:34It's a great pleasure. Thank you.
00:36So, what are you going to tell the audience?
00:41But we will try to say that it's an incredible opportunity, the opportunity to complete the
00:46single market, to strengthen the European economy, resilience, security, strategic autonomy in
00:52the main fields where the single market is not completed. Energy, connectivity, financial
00:57markets, and with this great opportunity to launch the 28th regime, the EU-INC, the EU-INC,
01:05this idea of having corporate law valid everywhere in Europe for companies, for startups. We are
01:13launching this. You will see it. It's a campaign. It's a campaign. It's not only discussing, reflecting,
01:20but also making people aware around Europe and the fifth freedom and the freedom to stay. All the different
01:27aspects that are fundamental today to make Europeans aware that we have an opportunity to be more
01:33united and to be more autonomous.
01:36In 2024, you wrote a widely acclaimed report on the state of European competitiveness. What happened then? Have your
01:45recommendations been taken to heart?
01:50There was an acceleration in the last three months. The year 25 was an year in which we were all
01:57shocked
01:58by the new Trump II era, the tariff wars and the rest. Then Greenland happened. I think Greenland was a
02:07big
02:08wake-up call for all European countries and leaders. Since then, since February, three European Council meetings
02:17and the one, April 24, that launched the strategy One Europe, One Market, 42 measures with deadlines. That is the
02:26most
02:26important part. Deadlines. Q3, 26 to Q2, 27. Deadlines for each of these 42 measures with the possibility then in
02:38two
02:38years' time to complete the single market and to complete this resilience. It's a great message to all
02:45Europeans. It's the message to say we can be more united and being more united, we can scale. And scale
02:52today is what is
02:54fundamental. We are too fragmented. Today we will launch with main speakers. We will have the opportunity
03:00to have the general manager of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, the Prime Minister of Belgium. Belgium was at the
03:07beginning the one who launched the idea of a report on the single market with Spain and Sweden, the three
03:15presidencies. And I'm very happy to have today the Prime Minister of Belgium, Bart Deweyver, who will be with us
03:22to
03:22conclude the event and to launch a campaign that starts here in Brussels. But we have the next date in
03:30autumn. We will be in
03:31Berlin, in Paris, in Stockholm, in Bucharest, in all the different countries.
03:35I want to bring up another hot topic. Right now, the Chinese are eating our lunch and we're kind of
03:43passing
03:43them the forks and knives. It seems that Europe has no leverage over China. We need their rare minerals and
03:50their markets. So what should be our China strategy? But in reality, one of the 42 measures is the Industrial
03:59Accelerator Act that is partially the first answer to this problem. We will discuss it today. The
04:07Industrial Accelerator Act has to be approved and the discussion has to be the way in which we will approve
04:13it.
04:14The way in which this Accelerator Act, Industrial Accelerator Act, can protect European industry and can save our
04:23manufacturing. So there are tools. Now it's time to be able to land with these ideas. And as you said,
04:31China
04:31is one of the main issues. But in general, the message that we will send today is the following one.
04:38We don't want to be a colony of the US and we don't want to be a colony of China.
04:43We want to be Europeans.
04:44And a quick one. When you look at China's state-backed industrial policy and Trump's tariff-driven
04:50protectionism, are Europeans the last true believers in free trade and are they paying a price for it?
04:58Yes, we are. But also we are, I think, the point of reference for large part of the world. There
05:06are not only
05:07China and the US in the world. There are a lot of countries and places in the world that want
05:12to be in dialogue
05:13with us. And the fact that we had India, Indonesia, Australia, Mexico and Mercosur as in the last four
05:20months agreements between Europe and this part of the world is for me a great message of power from the
05:27European Union and attractiveness from the European Union. We have to be a little bit more proud of what we
05:32are.
05:33All right, Enrico Letta, President of the Jacques Delors Institute. Thank you so much, sir, for helping us
05:39understand everything that is at stake here.
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