Ursula von der Leyen told German business leaders that competitiveness is now Europe’s defining test and outlined an urgent plan to cut red tape, secure cheaper energy, unlock the single market, and widen trade. The Commission has spent nine months assembling the toolkit and wants lawmakers to pass it quickly.

She sketched a pipeline of initiatives that began in January and now centres on a proposed seven-year budget with a €400-billion competitiveness fund, urging swift Council and Parliament approval. The tone was insistent and political. “This is no time for vetoes,” she said, arguing that growth, security, and industrial resilience now move together.

Her first tool is deregulation. Six simplification packages promise to trim compliance costs by more than €8-billion a year, backed by strict pre-checks on competitiveness impacts, especially for SMEs. “We need to slash red tape,” she said, tying the pledge to targets to cut administrative burdens by at least 25% for all firms and 35% for SMEs.

Energy policy follows the same logic of independence. With 72% of EU electricity now low-carbon, and more than €60-billion saved on fossil imports since the crisis, she pushed for faster grids, interconnectors, and authorisations so power can flow to where it is needed at least cost.

The market and trade agenda rounds it out. A Made in Europe rule for public procurement, which equals 14% of EU GDP, aims to stimulate home demand, while circular production and new deals, ranging from Mercosur, the South American bloc that includes Brazil and Argentina with a combined population of 770 million, to India seek scale and supply security. The message was simple. Delay is a tax on firms. Passing the package tests whether Europe chooses growth or drift.