It is gearing up for a ‘devil’s week’, during which its leaders will be asked to confront some of the toughest questions facing the continent.
Their mission: to figure out how to become a strong global player in an environment of increasing geopolitical tensions. This means strengthening the EU’s economic competitiveness, reducing dependence on the United States and supporting Ukraine in the face of the damage caused by the four-year-old invasion.
The coming days will show whether “Europe can change course and become truly united, fully mature and independent,” as former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta told POLITICO. Just as the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 “shaped Europe as we know it for the last 35 years”, so now, according to Leta, “we have to do something similar again”.
European leaders will take “crisis diplomacy” outside Brussels: from conference rooms in the European capital, to a castle in the Belgian countryside and finally to Munich for the world’s largest international security conference. At the same time, MEPs will meet in Strasbourg to discuss and approve the Union’s long-term budget for the period 2028-2034, while on Tuesday the ambassadors of all member states will hold talks in Brussels.
Here’s how the week is expected to play out.
Wednesday: EU defense ministers meeting
There is only one item on the agenda of EU defense ministers meeting in Brussels at the Foreign Affairs Council: supporting Ukraine.
The meeting is expected to be attended by Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, who took office last month, having previously served as Minister of Digital Transformation. According to a European official with knowledge of the talks, Fedorov will brief his counterparts on his country’s “most pressing” needs as the fourth anniversary of the start of the full-scale Russian invasion approaches. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
The Ukrainian minister is expected to request additional air defense systems, such as Patriot and NASAMS, which have long been at the top of Kiev’s demand list. The meeting will also discuss “cooperation in defense innovation”, a term that mainly refers to drones and other new military technologies.
Wednesday’s meeting is expected to trigger “an urgent meeting in Europe for a real Plan B in terms of its own security,” as the U.S. gradually withdraws from the transatlantic alliance, Fabrice Potier, managing director of consultancy Rasmussen Global, told POLITICO. “Europe must be able to stand on its own two feet, in case we are left alone,” he stressed.
The meeting will be followed by an informal dinner and an evening press conference by the head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kalas.
Thursday: Economic summit
The crisis in Ukraine will take a back seat as the leaders of the 27 EU member states will gather in the small Belgian village of Reichofen to discuss the Union’s economic problems.
Locked in the 16th-century Alden Biesen Castle, they will consider ways to make the EU richer: from simplifying legislation and strengthening the single market, to reducing dependence on critical raw materials from other parts of the world.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metzola, will participate in the session, updating the leaders on the process of approving the EU-US trade agreement. A vote on lifting tariffs on American manufactured goods and lobster is reportedly expected in March.
Former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta will also speak at the summit, presenting their visions for European competitiveness. Both have produced reports on strengthening Europe’s economic position.
Although the US or China were not specifically named, in his invitation European Council President Antonio Costa underlined that the EU now finds itself in “a world of increased — and not always fair — economic competition and trade imbalances.”
As the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, warned at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month: “The world has changed for good. And we have to change with him.”
Friday to Sunday: Munich Security Conference
The interest returns to defense, with the annual Munich Security Conference, where leading names on the international political scene will be present, such as von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Officially, the topics of this year’s conference are European security and defence, as well as the future of the transatlantic relationship. Unofficially, however, the looming question is whether the EU has any hope of standing on its own without Washington’s support.
Mark Rutte does not share that view, telling MEPs last month that “they can keep dreaming” if they believe Europe can do without the US. “He can’t,” he stated bluntly.
According to Potier, European intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned that Russia could be ready to attack a European ally while Donald Trump remains in the White House, stressing that Europe must be ready to “operate independently and conduct complex military operations.”
By the end of the week, there may not be clear answers to such critical questions. European leaders, however, hope at least to have charted the direction in which the Union will move.
