Brussels, Sept. 16, 2025 (Lusa) - The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Tuesday called for the removal of obstacles to harnessing the potential of activities such as artificial intelligence start-ups or lithium in Portugal and the Lobito corridor in Angola.
Speaking in Brussels at the high-level conference on ‘One year after the Draghi Report’, which acknowledged the need for substantial investment in the economic competitiveness of the European Union (EU) vis-à-vis the United States and China, Ursula von der Leyen pointed out that "there are still many obstacles".
"An AI start-up from Portugal or Romania should be able to grow without problems across our continent, and currently this is often not the case," she said, adding that "our single market is far from complete" and that internal barriers are equivalent to tariffs of 45% on goods and 110% on services.
After former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi's report listed innovation, decarbonisation and high energy prices as the main challenges, Ursula von der Leyen also advocated investing in critical raw materials in the EU "for the sake of economic security", guaranteeing financial support and timely licences for initiatives such as "lithium processing in Portugal".
As for energy, and with more than 70% of European electricity coming from low-carbon sources, the head of the EU executive promised to invest in electricity interconnections, which have been requested for many years by the Iberian Peninsula, an energy island in the EU.
"Often, we do not have the necessary interconnections or we do not use the ones we have efficiently, [but] now we have started to address this issue [...] and many projects are already underway," such as the "Bay of Biscay project, which will double capacity between France and Spain," she explained.
"In addition, we will propose a network package and a new energy motorways initiative, which will focus on eight critical bottlenecks in our energy infrastructure," she added.
In terms of diversifying partnerships, at a time when the EU is facing trade tensions, now mitigated, with important partners such as the United States, Ursula von der Leyen said she wanted "a network of strategic projects around the world," including the "strategic corridor from Lobito to Africa's copper belt" in Angola.
"All this with our distinctive European approach. Other powers are only interested in extraction, [but] we build local processing industries and value chains because that is how we strengthen our own security," she said.
Specifically with regard to trade, she assured "political will" to conclude an agreement with India before the end of the year and to move forward with South Africa, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and others.
Ursula von der Leyen also called for a "sense of urgency across the EU's competitiveness agenda" to move forward with "urgent measures to address urgent needs".
The head of the EU executive also called for "a more independent Europe in defence matters", while admitting that "this will not happen overnight".
In his report published in September 2024 and commissioned a year earlier, Mario Draghi estimated the annual additional investment needs in the EU compared to its competitors China and the United States at €800 billion, equivalent to more than 4% of the EU's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and above the Marshall Plan.
According to data now released by the European lobby organisation European Policy Innovation Council (EPIC, in the English acronym), of the total 383 recommendations made, only 11.2% (43 measures) have been fully implemented.
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