Germany is urging the European Union to adopt a "two‑speed" model aimed at breaking decision‑making inertia and boosting member economies. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, speaking at a Die Welt event in Berlin, announced that German and French finance ministers will seek to strengthen competitiveness by creating a new framework for the EU’s six largest economies. Klingbeil has invited his counterparts from France, Poland, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands to a video conference on Wednesday to set a concrete agenda focused on sovereignty, resilience and competitiveness. The meeting will serve as a launch pad for a later in‑person session at the next Eurogroup. The four‑point plan outlined in Klingbeil’s letter covers the promotion of capital markets, strengthening the euro, better coordination of defence investment, and securing critical raw‑material supplies. He also calls for faster creation of an Economic and Investment Union to improve financing for European firms, especially start‑ups and scale‑ups, and for a stronger role of the euro as a predictable refuge currency. The German minister stresses the need for tighter cooperation on defence spending and sees defence as an engine for economic growth, while urging a strategic commitment to critical mineral supply chains with international partners.

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