France lowers the drawbridge: Not much was “Made in Europe” at Thursday’s leaders’ summit on “competitiveness.” The meeting didn’t even produce a piece of paper – and wasn’t expected to. But what did emerge, as my colleagues Thomas and Niko reported from the frosty château, was a wary truce between France and Germany in their age-old debate over whether protectionism or market forces should power Europe’s economic revival. While France dropped its demand for protectionism partout, there’s now clearer consensus that some key sectors – particularly those exposed to China – will get special protection from Brussels.

You're reading Friday's Rapporteur. This is Eddy Wax, with Nicoletta Ionta in Brussels.

Need-to-knows:

🟢 EU's fourth-largest economy squeezed out of competitiveness talks

🟢 Belgian police raid Commission headquarters

🟢 After nearly two years, Brussels gets a government

Forget Mario Draghi, a two-speed Europe is already taking shape. But the countries teaming up aren’t necessarily more ambitious or economically competent – it’s just about their politics.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the only true socialist left around the European Council table, found himself relegated to the outer circle of Europe’s decision-making on Thursday by Germany, Italy and Belgium – all led by right-wingers – whose vision for reviving growth differs wildly from his.

Spain was among a handful of EU countries not invited to an “informal working group” on competitiveness by Giorgia Meloni, Friedrich Merz and Bart De Wever. It prompted a bout of pointed off-the-record sniping between Madrid and Rome. Some diplomats I spoke to downplayed the format’s significance, with one insisting “nobody has paid any attention to it.”

But at a so-called informal summit where projecting unity was the only tangible outcome, optics matter. The 19 leaders will meet again in March, when more substantive decisions on competitiveness are expected.

Leaving Spain out of discussions on Europe’s economic future is odd. Though weakened at home – as many leaders are – and mired in corruption scandals and attacks from the EPP, Sánchez steers the EU's fourth-largest economy, and one of its fastest growing.

If being “like-minded” is the entry requirement, as Meloni suggested, then treating immigration as an economic asset places Spain outside the current EPP-dominated mainstream.

A smiling Sánchez, who didn’t speak to reporters at all, nonetheless scored a quiet win. The word “affordability” – the winning campaign mantra of New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani – is now creeping into the EU prosperity debate, long dominated by right-wing talking points such as energy costs for heavy industry and deregulation.

António Costa – another Iberian socialist – invoked the term, as did Roberta Metsola, whose institution is closer to the people than the Council. She pointed to recent Eurobarometer data showing purchasing power as a leading public concern. The cost of living is rising up political agendas in Austria and the Benelux, where supermarket pricing is under scrutiny, and in Hungary ahead of elections.

With Portugal’s backing, Sánchez has also succeeded in pushing housing up the EU agenda.

Often written off, Sánchez has proven resilient before. As the all-dominant EPP's leaders from Ursula von der Leyen to Merz tear themselves apart in a blame game over who can deregulate faster, the Socialists are quietly shaping the debate’s framing, even if policy victories remain modest.

At Alden Biesen Castle, the summit bore witness to an entrenchment of the EU’s growing political feudalism. Rather than some countries pulling ahead to forge an ambitious path, the opposite happened: a minority of countries who only happen to have different political views were left behind. That bodes badly for a new EU era of “enhanced cooperation.”

Commission raided in office-gate

Police searched the Commission on Thursday as part of an investigation into the €880 million sale of 23 EU office buildings to a Brussels real estate fund, according to people familiar with the matter, following earlier reporting by the Financial Times.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) said it is gathering evidence in an investigation into the 2024 sell-off but declined to comment further. The EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF is also involved, two people said.

The Commission said it would cooperate fully with the authorities and maintained the transaction followed established procedures and rules.

Under the deal, the properties were transferred to the specially created Cityforward fund, which controls roughly 300,000 square metres of office space in the EU Quarter. The fund is managed by Belgium’s federal investment company SFPIM, which confirmed to Euractiv’s Elisa Braun that its premises were also searched. Private homes were searched as well. According to Le Soir, no arrests have been made.

Trains save the day at Munich

The Munich Security Conference is kicking off in Bavaria, but before discussions on crises and conflicts begin over canapés on Friday, many attendees first had to overcome an unexpected hurdle: getting there.

Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa cancelled all flights to Munich on Thursday because of a strike. Fortunately, many participants – including former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – were able to switch to Germany’s national rail service, which, somewhat surprisingly, was running on time. They arrived at Munich’s main station to waiting security details and a large fleet of black cars.

Now read: Our editor-in-chief Matthew Karnitschnig’s op-ed on why Iran, not just Russia, should top Europe’s security agenda.

NATO’s European takeover?

A key meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday pointed to a new phase for the alliance, with European capitals increasingly expected to shoulder more responsibility for their own security.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth skipped the talks, sending Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Elbridge Colby instead. Colby has long pushed for a US pivot to the Indo-Pacific and a sharper focus on China, priorities he says should take precedence over support for Ukraine, diplomats told Euractiv.

He called for a “NATO 3.0” in which European allies take primary responsibility for the continent’s defence, reviving Cold War–style burden sharing. Read the full wrap-up by Charles Cohen.

Slowing down

The European Commission appears to have pushed back by five years to 2035 its target for manufacturing to account for 20% of EU economic output, according to a new draft industry bill seen by Nicoletta and my colleague Stefano Porciello.

The text is a central element of Brussels’ effort to build up domestic manufacturing capacity in crucial clean-tech sectors such as solar power and electric cars. An earlier draft had set the target for 2030. Read the full story.

Council’s bill gets longer

EU governments are bracing for another infrastructure tab. The European Convention Centre Luxembourg, which hosts ministerial meetings for several months each year, will undergo modernisation from 2026 to 2028, EU ambassadors were told this week.

Although the Council does not own the building, a 2015 agreement requires it to cover 25% of major replacement or reconstruction costs, on top of its annual occupancy fee, one Council official told Nicoletta.

The expense comes as governments are already planning a sweeping overhaul of Brussels’ ageing Justus Lipsius building to meet energy standards – a project expected to cost around €1 billion.

Top spin? Alexandra Henman, von der Leyen’s communications adviser, is related to Tim Henman, the former British tennis champion.

Unlocking Brussels: After 614 days of political limbo, Belgium’s capital finally has a government. Nearly 20 months after voters went to the polls – and following the longest coalition talks in Belgian history – party leaders on Thursday night struck a deal. The new regional administration brings together seven parties, an alliance born more of necessity than affection. Read the full story.

Costa flubs MFF: António Costa tripped over the “MFF” acronym at the Alden Biesen press conference – a small but telling moment. Outside the Brussels bubble, hardly anyone knows what it means.

PARIS 🇫🇷

Bruno Retailleau, leader of the conservative Republicans and former interior minister, on Thursday declared his candidacy for France’s 2027 presidential election, opening an already crowded contest on the right. Party figures are weighing a broad primary stretching from the centre to hard-right voices such as MEP Sarah Knafo, as the Republicans face mounting pressure from Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella’s far-right National Rally.

– Laurent Geslin

BRATISLAVA 🇸🇰

Robert Fico rebuked the Netherlands after its new coalition agreement proposed exploring EU funding cuts and suspending voting rights for governments deemed to undermine European values, explicitly naming Slovakia and Hungary. Fico accused The Hague of interfering with Slovakia’s sovereignty, warning that penalising “sovereign views” risked undermining the bloc. The country’s foreign minister also rejected the proposal.

– Natália Silenská

ATHENS 🇬🇷

Greece is stepping up defence co-operation with India as it reshapes regional alliances, Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said, citing ties with Washington, Israel and Paris. Athens and New Delhi signed an agreement on defence innovation and advanced technologies, following Dendias’ visit this week. Separately, the EU and India concluded a security partnership in January, opening further scope for defence capacity building.

– Charles Cohen and Sarantis Michalopoulos

HELSINKI 🇫🇮

Social Affairs and Health Minister Kaisa Juuso resigned on Thursday and will take sick leave, saying the role had become “really heavy.” Juuso, of the right-wing populist Finns Party, cited the strain of making “difficult decisions” on public services. Her tenure included surviving a no-confidence vote, healthcare cuts and a previous spell of sick leave. The departure appears health-related rather than political.

– Charles Szumski

MADRID 🇪🇸

Spain’s parliament on Thursday approved a criminal justice reform proposed by the right-wing Catalan separatist party Junts, in a rare show of cross-party unity. The bill, which toughens penalties for repeat offenders, won backing from the ruling Socialists, the centre-right Popular Party, Vox and the Basque Nationalist Party, and allows prison terms of up to three years for minor theft.

– Inés Fernández-Pontes

STOCKHOLM 🇸🇪

Education Minister Simona Mohamsson has invited all parliamentary parties to talks on children’s screen time, warning that “the algorithms have our children in an iron grip.” The government is examining a ban on social media for under-15s. While the opposition Social Democrats back a strict age limit, Mohamsson urged other parties to clarify their stance as Denmark and Australia adopt similar curbs.

– Charles Szumski

KYIV 🇺🇦

Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday defended Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych after he was disqualified from the Winter Olympics for wearing a helmet honouring fallen Ukrainian athletes. The president said the Olympic Committee’s decision violated the “principles of Olympism.” Heraskevych, 26, was stripped of his accreditation minutes before competing after refusing to replace the helmet with a black armband.

– Emiliia Ternovskaia

In an op-ed for Euractiv, Rachel Ellehuus, director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, and Anna Wieslander, the Atlantic Council’s director for northern Europe, argue the Greenland crisis showed how quickly US priorities can shift.

Their answer: fast-track a European-led NATO, with Europeans taking primary responsibility for conventional defence and France and the UK strengthening the alliance’s nuclear pillar.

Contributors: Thomas Møller-Nielsen, Nikolaus J. Kurmayer, Sarantis Michalopoulos, Sofía Sánchez Manzanaro, Alice Bergoend, Charles Cohen, Elisa Braun, Aurélie Pugnet

Editors: Christina Zhao, Sofia Mandilara, Charles Szumski