European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has invited the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, to attend the upcoming seminar of the College of Commissioners, dedicated to Europes competitiveness agenda. Advancing Europes competitiveness agenda is a key priority of the European Commission, as reinforcing economic growth is essential to secure Europes independence.
The seminar will take place on 4th February 2026 and will provide an opportunity for an in-depth strategic discussion on strengthening the European Unions competitive position in a rapidly evolving global context. The exchanges among the College of Commissioners will contribute to the preparations for the informal retreat of EU leaders of 12th February 2026 on strengthening the EU single market in a new geoeconomic context, to which President von der Leyen will participate.
Background
In line with the recommendations of the Draghi report, the Commission has placed competitiveness and decarbonisation at the heart of the policy initiatives presented in the first year of the College mandate. Among other initiatives, the Commission has put forward the Clean Industrial Deal and a strong simplification agenda, with 10 omnibus packages proposed, which maintain our standards high, while bringing along possible savings of 12 billion euro every year for European companies. The Commission has also presented a startup and scale-up strategy, a competitiveness fund, and has doubled down on investments in innovation, proposing to double the budget of Horizon Europe and launching the Choose Europe program.
Going forward, the Commission will continue its work on financial services, with the launch of the Savings and Investment Union, and on reducing the remaining barriers in the single market, also by proposing a 28th regime, EU Inc. At the same time, the trade agenda of the Commission, building strong ties with a network of trade agreements with 78 countries - the largest in the world - allows for diversification and ultimately for a more independent Europe.