Overview
- Speaking to industrial leaders in Antwerp, Emmanuel Macron said the EU must issue common debt to fund defense, clean tech, AI and quantum, warning it will soon be too late to act.
- Macron called for a sector‑specific ‘European preference’ to shield strategic industries, echoing a Commission plan to tie public funding to EU‑made components set for discussion by leaders this week.
- EU capitals remain split, with Germany cautiously open only in narrowly defined sectors and favoring a ‘Made with Europe’ approach as northern states warn against added protectionism.
- If no agreement is reached by June, Macron urged willing countries to proceed via enhanced cooperation, a course that Ursula von der Leyen also said she would countenance.
- On Russia, Macron said technical contacts have resumed and concluded Moscow does not currently want peace, arguing any renewed dialogue should be organized by Europe with few interlocutors.