Why Belgium wants ideas from big business on how to fix the EU

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Good morning. Today, the European Commission releases its long-awaited proposals on how to boost Europe’s economic security, including protecting key industries from foreign interference, boosting domestic resilience, and reducing over-reliance on third country suppliers.

Here, I reveal Belgium’s plan to organise a high-level summit of business CEOs next month, and our Madrid team reports on a significant sporting victory for the Spanish capital over its Catalan rival.

Also — we hope you’re enjoying Europe Express, and would love to hear your thoughts on the newsletter, or the news itself. You can reach us at europe.express@ft.com, or just hit reply. 

Getting down to business

Belgium is a dab hand at organising political summits for the international organisations it hosts. Now it’s arranging a gathering for top European business leaders, as part of a pitch to industry that the EU hasn’t forgotten about them among all the geopolitics.

Context: Belgium holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, and has made boosting the competitiveness and efficiency of the bloc’s single market key focus areas during its six months in charge.

The trading hub of Antwerp is set to host the summit on February 20, welcoming around 60 chief executives from across Europe, according to people involved in the preparations.

The guest list, which is still being finalised, is expected to focus on energy-intensive industries and major players, to hear their thoughts on the best way to attract more investment and increase growth.

“They’re taking this topic pretty seriously and see this as a way to make a big statement with businesses, to give momentum to the political discussions,” said one executive who has been briefed on the event.

Alexander de Croo, Belgium’s prime minister, has called for an “industry deal” that would complement the EU’s Green Deal, and create incentives for business even as the bloc pushes ahead with necessary legislative changes to advance the green transition.

De Croo’s administration is leading the EU in a direction that he, and the European Commission, hope the other 26 member states will soon follow.

The current “geopolitical commission” has spent much of its time in office contending with pestilence and war, but many expect its new iteration — to be installed after the EU elections in June — will focus on the bloc’s economic fundamentals.

Belgium has tasked former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta to write a report on the state of the single market, while commission president Ursula von der Leyen has asked Mario Draghi, also a former Italian prime minister, to do the same for the bloc’s competitiveness.

Between them and the 60 or so CEOs who will gather next month, De Croo and von der Leyen should get a pretty good idea of where to begin.

Chart du jour: Shuffling the pack

The two biggest political groups in the European parliament — the centre-right European People’s party (EPP) and the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) — will probably lose seats in the upcoming EU elections, while the far-right Identity and Democracy Group (ID) will gain enough seats to dislodge the liberal Renew from third place. Read the full forecast published by the European Council on Foreign Relations today.

Fuel to the fire

Madrid has scored a high-octane victory over Barcelona in the perennial race between Spain’s two biggest cities, securing the right to host the country’s grand prix from 2026, write Carmen Muela and Barney Jopson.

Context: Formula One has been coming to Barcelona since the 1990s, but the racing association yesterday announced a 10-year contract with Madrid. It comes at a delicate time for regional politics, given Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s contentious deal with Catalan separatists to stay in power.

For the Madrid region, led by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the F1 decision plays into the narrative that Madrid is booming economically, while Barcelona has lost some of its mojo.

Speaking alongside Formula One president Stefano Domenicali, Ayuso said the deal would generate more than €450mn per year and some 10,000 jobs.

“It is one of the biggest sporting events in the world and we are proud that it will be held in Madrid again after more than four decades,” she said, referring to the city’s last race in 1981.

Ayuso, of the conservative People’s party, is a leading critic of the amnesty that Sánchez offered Catalan separatists to secure enough votes for another term.

The pro-independence regional government in Catalonia said it would “work to extend” F1’s presence in Catalonia beyond 2026 — and Domenicali said that moving to Madrid did not exclude staying in Barcelona, somehow.

José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Madrid’s mayor and another PP politician, sought to lower the temperature. “It is not Madrid versus Catalonia,” he said. “This is not against anyone.”

What to watch today

1. European Commission presents its economic security package.

2. Belgian interior minister Annelies Verlinden and EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson launch the European port alliance in Antwerp to tackle drug trafficking.

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• Battleground: A row over the renovation of a stadium in Northern Ireland has exposed enduring divisions between nationalists and unionists.

• Last holdout: Turkey’s parliament has given Sweden the green light to join Nato. Now, Hungary needs to be convinced of Sweden’s accession.