Prime Minister Andrej Babiš sends a letter to European leaders calling for strengthening the competitiveness of the European Union

Premiér Andrej Babiš zaslal před summitem Evropské rady dopis evropským lídrům, 2. února 2026.

On Thursday, 12 February, a major summit of EU leaders on EU competitiveness will take place in Brussels. Before the start of the summit, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš sent a letter to European Council President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and other European leaders. The letter summarises the Czech Republic's priorities to strengthen the EU’s economy, prevent the outflow of energy-intensive industries from the EU and reinforce the EU's strategic self-sufficiency.

"The EU’s competitiveness is a key issue for me. Without a strong and competitive industry, the EU will succeed neither in transformation and strengthen its security, nor achieve long-term prosperity, as the Antwerp Declaration rightly and clearly stated. The latter represents a common challenge for European industry and highlights the need to reconcile transformation ambitions with maintaining a strong industrial base in Europe. At the same time, it highlights the need for affordable and competitively priced energy, investment certainty, simpler and predictable regulation, and faster permitting processes as essential prerequisites for European competitiveness," the Czech Prime Minister stated in the letter.

"It is evident that the EU today faces major challenges, including pressing security issues. I am convinced that we can only succeed through a pragmatic approach, without ideological short-cuts and with respect for the diverging starting conditions of the Member States In particular, I view as essential better functioning of the internal market, strengthening European industry and self-sufficiency, energy security and affordable energy prices for our citizens and businesses," summarised Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

In a letter to Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, the Czech Prime Minister proposed eleven points intended to support industry, ensure affordable energy prices, set realistic conditions, and remove obstacles for businesses so they can continue to grow and innovate. According to Andrej Babiš, the EU needs to curb the uncontrolled rise in emission allowance prices and prevent speculation on financial markets, postpone the launch of the EU ETS 2 system, revise EU climate targets, and simplify and accelerate public procurement Prosperity of the EU would also be bolstered by significantly accelerating permitting and approval processes for investments, consistently reducing bureaucracy, fully adhering to the principle of technological neutrality, and ensuring favourable conditions for nuclear energy and natural gas. According to Prime Minister Babiš, it is vital that cross-border energy interconnections be strengthen for both electricity and gas, the EU's raw material self-sufficiency be improved, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies be promoted as a realistic path toward decarbonisation, and high-value-added sectors be developed with an emphasis on supporting affected companies within our region.

„Ahead of the upcoming informal meeting of the members of the European Council, I would like to confirm my readiness to actively contribute to the search for balanced solutions. As regards the aforementioned topics, I propose that specific legislative proposals be designed that will have a positive impact on the lives of citizens and businesses throughout the EU. My ministers and their teams stand ready to further elaborate on these solutions and to cooperate closely with their counterparts," Prime Minister Babiš said, proposing the formation of an interest group of member states dubbed the “Friends of Competitiveness”, to address the individual proposals in greater detail.