\u201cWe will have two major topics to discuss: firstly, the competitiveness of European industry and the high, too high, level of regulation in Europe,\u201d Merz told reporters upon his arrival in Copenhagen. \u201cSecondly, unfortunately, we will have to talk again about the war against Ukraine.\u201d <\/p>\n
It seemed Merz hadn\u2019t bothered to read the official schedule, which included one session on defense and one on Ukraine. Officials at the summit were under no illusion, though, that his message was tailored toward a domestic audience. The German leader is under increasing pressure to revamp the EU\u2019s biggest economy<\/a> and deliver on the sweeping reforms and rapid turnaround he staked his election bid on.\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. Royal appointments trump everything else<\/strong><\/p>\n The end point of the Copenhagen summit was dictated by a dinner invitation. The Danish royals invited EU leaders for dinner at 7 p.m. sharp.<\/p>\n That appointment added the pressure of a deadline. But the session on security and defense took four hours, twice as long as scheduled, because leaders went beyond their pre-written talking points and free-styled answers. Costa, who chaired the meeting, didn\u2019t dare cut the mic given how sensitive the talks were, said an EU official, who denied the talks took longer because of disagreements among leaders.<\/p>\n Leaders eventually made it to the dinner on time. Only von der Leyen, Costa and Fredriksen returned to the summit venue to brief the press.\u00a0<\/p>\n 5. All the members of the club want to decide who can enter<\/strong><\/p>\n Costa\u2019s idea of fast-tracking Ukraine\u2019s bid to join the EU didn\u2019t work. And that was no surprise<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n