The 'Economic choices for Europe: EU leadership debate 2024', a pivotal event organised by Bruegel and the Financial Times, occurred today in the heart of European politics, Brussels. The debate gave the lead candidates of Renew Europe Now, EPP, PES, and ID a stage where Sandro Gozi, the co-lead candidate of the liberal, democratic and centrist platform, stood out as the Secretary General of the European Democratic Party and No. 6 on the Besoin d'Europe presidential list in France.
In a debate mostly centred on the economy, Gozi focused on the need for Europe to regain its competitive edge. As he pointed out in the discussion: "(...) This is the age of power politics in the world. So either you are given power or out of politics, and we have to give ourselves power: we have to become a military power, an industrial power."
Gozi expressed the vision of the Renew Europe Now platform in three words: defence, market and reform.
Defence: "The first thing is to become powerful as Europeans to defend our values and interests. Europe must focus much more on industry, calling for a European sovereignty fund and a plan for the defence industry."
Market: "We need one market, one rule strategy. We need to do much more to remove all the remaining obstacles and create a single market where we have met and don't have it: energy, financial market and capital market union. Security, of course, but also digital, green transition and focusing more on investment with a cross-border dimension."
Reform: "I have said that we must abandon the dogma of the 1% for the budget. We have to put Parliament and the Council on an equal footing when we decide on the future of the budget. But we must be open to treaty reform to shape the future with all the power we need."
Gozi will represent our platform at the upcoming EBU debate this Thursday, May 23rd, sharing the stage with Schmidt and Von der Leyen again. Yet, Gozi used the stage to confront Anders Vistisen, the ID group's lead candidate, considering the political family's absence in the upcoming EBU debate. After several instances of Vistisen calling for a stronger Europe, Gozi pointed out the irony of European conservatives advocating for more Europe. This stance deviates from their usual rhetoric and voting patterns in the European Parliament.
You can watch the full broadcast here.