EU leaders meeting in Budapest have signed a declaration aimed at boosting the bloc’s ailing competitiveness – a task given added urgency by the threat of “America first” protectionist trade policies promised by the US president-elect, Donald Trump.
The bloc has too many barriers to innovation and must drastically reduce red tape, especially for startups; ramp up investment; make access to capital easier; and raise productivity, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Friday.
