German Finance Minister to Urge EU to ‘Buy European’ and Advance Joint Defense Projects

Germany’s Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil will on Wednesday call for a more “modern” EU budget, directing funds toward cross-border rail and road links, energy networks, external border security, and research, sources told Reuters.

According to the sources, Klingbeil will push a six-point plan to revive the EU economy. It includes a “Buy European” approach for critical components such as advanced semiconductors, and the creation of a single market for defense through joint weapons projects.

Under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Germany—Europe’s largest economy—seeks to play a more prominent leadership role in the EU as it confronts a less transatlantic-focused United States and the ongoing war in Ukraine, now entering its fourth year.

In a speech at Berlin’s Hertie School, Klingbeil is expected to emphasize swift trade deals with partners including India and South America’s Mercosur bloc, partly in response to the Trump administration’s tariff policies.

He will also call for the establishment of a “savings and investment union” to mobilize more private capital, arguing that a unified, high-performing European capital market is vital to help startups and scale-ups grow.

Klingbeil will stress that unilateral approaches to enforcing EU single market rules at the national level are fueling bureaucracy and fragmenting the bloc’s shared economic space.

He will also urge better mutual recognition of professional qualifications across borders to boost labor mobility, and point to the “particularism of small states” as a major obstacle to attracting investment.