The President of the European Council, António Costa
Meeting of European Union heads of state and government will focus on competitiveness in Europe. In an interview with Expresso, Costa admits that the biggest challenge he has faced since being elected President of the European Council was stabilizing relations between the EU and Donald Trump.
The President of the European Council, Antonio Costawants to call on European Union leaders for a informal retreat in Limburg, in rural Belgium. The meeting aims to discuss European competitiveness, says .
The meeting of the bloc’s heads of state and government is scheduled for February 12th, at Castelo de Alden Biesena 16th century complex surrounded by a moat, located in the eastern Belgian region of Limburg, Costa revealed in an interview with .
The informal summit on competitiveness comes just months after European leaders debated the European Commission’s proposal to promote a pan-European industrial renaissanceby combining funds for research, defense and innovation in the EU budget for 2028-2035.
Shortly before taking office a year ago, the President of the Council stated that he intended organize informal and periodic meetings between leaders of the EU, so that they could discuss substantive strategic issues without the pressure of having to reach definitive conclusions.
The purpose of these meetings was to create space for debates that often blocked official summits chaired by Costa’s predecessor, Charles Michel.
Although Costa wants to hold these retreats outside the Belgian capitalsecurity issues forced him to organize the first of these meetings at the central Egmont Palace, in Brussels, last February.
In this session, European leaders discussed issues related to the broader theme of European defense. Last week, the bloc’s leaders participated in a informal meeting in Luanda, Angolawhere talks focused on ongoing efforts to secure lasting peace in Ukraine.
In the long interview with Expresso, which marked his first year at the head of the Council, Costa said that the biggest challenge he faced was to stabilize relations between the EU and the US President Donald Trump.
This objective, says António Costa, was achieved, but he recognized that the dynamics between Brussels and Washington Today is “different” than existed previously.
Costa considered it essential that the EU “remain calmserenity and remain committed to being constructive” in the relationship with Trump, highlighting that the relationship between Brussels and Washington is not “between equals”.
The Union, he stressed, is made up of 27 member countries, “each with its own policies and interests”, while the United States functions as a single federal entity.
