Von der Leyen is also under pressure to show that U.S. President Donald Trump’s regulatory bonfire abroad won’t leave EU countries fighting an unfair battle with transatlantic competitors.
The attendees will be from companies that signed the Antwerp Declaration — a cross-sector call launched in February 2024 pressing Brussels to make competitiveness central to its work after last June’s EU election.
As the brainchild behind the declaration, chemical lobbying group Cefic is organizing the gathering, which will start at 1 p.m. and likely last until 6 p.m.
Thus far, von der Leyen has heeded the industry appeal. Since launching her second five-year term last year, the EU’s top executive has doggedly injected the word “competitiveness” into nearly every speech. Her first major initiative was even dubbed the “Competitiveness Compass.”
Choosing to host CEOs right after launching her most highly anticipated proposal of the year will only strengthen that theme.
At the February event, von der Leyen will open with a keynote address before hosting a roundtable with some of the EU’s most prominent CEOs, said an attendee who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.