In an interview with EURACTIV, the former Italian prime minister called for a "Europe of Power", a European approach to industrial policy to counteract fragmentation risks, and a completion of the EU's Capital Markets Union (CMU).
The EU's new 'STEP' funding platform is unambitious and runs the risk of internal market fragmentation, French centrist Renew MEP Valérie Hayer, who co-leads the Parliament’s work on the EU budget and own resources, told EURACTIV in an interview.
When EU leaders meet in Brussels at the end of March, the conversation over how Europe should subsidise its green transition will clash with the discussion over the reform of the bloc's fiscal rules, providing opportunities for a compromise deal.
On Wednesday (1 February), Margrethe Vestager presented a new framework for state aid that will allow member states to subsidise more companies for longer, while also warning that such subsidies were a threat to the integrity of the single market.