With member state leaders holding an informal meeting in the Danish capital today, twenty-eight large European firms have presented them with the 'Copenhagen Pledge'. This says firms "stand ready to increase investment levels in Europe by ~50% towards 2030" should the EU and its member states engage in a series of major reforms. Claims that with reforms and private investment, "Europe could be on track to close most of the ~800EURbn annual investment gap outlined by Draghi."
- The areas of reform identified in the pledge are:
- 'Unlock innovation, reduce the regulatory burden and remove barriers to the Single Market' - i.e. protect IP, speed up approval procedures, streamline compliance, mutual qualifications recognition, boost investment in procurement of new tech.
- 'Incentivise private investments in Europe to build strategic influence' - i.e. use long-term budget towards capital investment, pension and tax systems to encourage private capital flows into EU markets, commit to 3% of GDP for R&D, and boost joint EU research projects.
- 'Power the future of Europe: Clean, competitive, and resilient energy for industrial leadership' - i.e. expand grids, faster permitting for infra, increase clean energy production while ensuring renewable competitiveness
- 'Build a competitive and resilient defence industrial base' - i.e. large-scale orders to encourage sector, remove barriers to transnational cooperation, use EU financial instruments to leverage private capital.
- 'Advance Europe’s technological resilience' - i.e. ensure EU as a market leader in AI, quantum, green and clean tech, ensure critical infra like 5G and 6G to enable next-gen services.