The European Council, meeting on 19-20 March 2026, assessed the EU’s progress in the areas of energy, industry, innovation and investment. As part of the competitiveness agenda, European leaders stressed that the current situation requires addressing energy, industrial renewal and innovation and mobilising investment in parallel, as these areas determine the resilience and economic security of the EU. The conclusion from the European Council are available at this link.

In the Energy area, the key direction is to ensure affordable energy while continuing the energy transformation so that the EU reduces strategic dependencies and vulnerability to external shocks.

The Industry and innovation section highlights the need to support industrial renewal, reduce dependencies and strengthen technological and innovation capacity – i.e. create the conditions for European companies to innovate and produce at a globally competitive scale.

In the Investment area, leaders stressed the need to mobilise private and public finance and improve the investment environment so that the EU can finance transformation, innovation and strategic projects (including infrastructure and economic modernisation).

Overall, the conclusions can be read as confirmation that the EU is moving towards a package of measures in 2026–2027 that are intended to simultaneously reduce costs (especially energy), accelerate modernization, and remove internal barriers to growth and investment.