EditMacron puts his helmet on with call for EU common debt ahead of informal leaders’ summit
If momentum builds, the proposal could influence the next multiannual financial framework or inspire new investment vehicles
As European leaders prepare for an informal retreat on Thursday, at Belgium’s historic Alden Biesen castle, French President Emmanuel Macron has intensified his push for the European Union to launch joint borrowing – often dubbed “future-oriented Eurobonds” – to finance massive strategic investments.
In a wide-ranging interview published today with outlets including Le Monde, El País, and others, Macron argued that the bloc must urgently mobilize shared debt to fund defence, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, space, semiconductors, and the green-digital transition, warning that Europe risks becoming a “spectator of its own decline” without bold action.
Macron estimated that Europe needs around €1.2 trillion annually in public and private investment to enhance competitiveness and reduce dependencies on the United States, China, and other powers. He highlighted the EU’s vast pool of savings – some €30 trillion – currently flowing abroad, often financing American companies, and proposed that common European debt could channel these resources internally while creating an attractive alternative safe asset to challenge the “hegemony of the dollar.”
“Now is the time to launch a common borrowing capacity for these future expenditures: future-oriented Eurobonds,” he declared, framing the move as essential for Europe to assert itself as a geopolitical power amid U.S. policy shifts, Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and China’s rise.
The Alden Biesen retreat, convened by European Council President António Costa, is a low-key “brainstorming” session focused on strengthening the single market, cutting economic dependencies, and boosting EU competitiveness in a volatile geoeconomic landscape. No formal decisions are expected, but the discussions – joined by experts like former Italian Prime Ministers Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta, authors of influential 2024 reports on competitiveness and the single market – will help shape agendas for the March European Council.
A parallel pre-summit on competitiveness, organised by leaders from Germany, Italy, Belgium, and others (with France participating), underscores efforts to align major economies ahead of the gathering.
Macron’s intervention revives a debate that gained traction during the COVID-19 recovery, when the EU issued joint debt through NextGenerationEU. France has long advocated making such instruments permanent for strategic priorities, with Macron emphasizing Europe’s democratic stability as a draw for investors in an era of perceived U.S. instability. He also tied the proposal to broader goals, including a single energy market to lower prices and support industrial revival, and distanced himself from notions of a “two-speed” Europe that might exclude some members.
An uphill battle
Yet the idea faces significant hurdles. Germany and “frugal” northern states like the Netherlands remain sceptical, viewing joint debt as a potential moral hazard that distracts from domestic reforms, deregulation, and single-market completion. Estonian MEP Riho Terras (EPP), speaking to Euronews on 10 February, argued that countries should fund defence and other needs nationally rather than through shared mechanisms. Critics often portray France’s push as an attempt to share fiscal burdens without sufficient structural changes at home.
Despite the divisions, the timing is charged: Transatlantic strains under U.S. President Donald Trump, ongoing hybrid threats from Russia, and the need to counter China’s dominance have amplified calls for greater EU strategic autonomy. While the retreat is exploratory, Macron’s high-profile intervention raises the stakes, signalling that financing Europe’s future – whether through common debt, reformed budgets, or other tools – will dominate upcoming debates.
With agencies.
Caption: French President Emmanuel Macron, wearing a working helmet, visits the Mardyck Electryck site dedicated to the electric steel production at one of steelmaker ArcelorMittal’s plants in Dunkirk, northern France, 10 February 2026. EPA/BENOIT TESSIER / POOL
Updated: February 10, 2026 - 15:21
