EU leaders discuss bloc’s competitiveness in light of Trump return

Threat of protectionist ‘America first’ trade policies adds urgency to European reforms to boost economic growth

EU leaders are gathering in Budapest for an informal summit on the bloc’s ailing competitiveness – a task given added urgency by the threat of protectionist “America first” trade policies promised by the US president-elect Donald Trump.

“Don’t ask what the US can do for you, ask what Europe should do for itself,” the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said as the meeting got under way. “Europe must find a balance. We know what we have to do.”