German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hails China's efficiency, urges EU to cut red tape

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz praised China's economic growth and efficiency while urging the European Union to implement sweeping deregulation to boost the EU economy at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, Belgium on Wednesday.

Stressing only an economically powerful Europe will be a sovereign Europe, Merz said this is the reality all EU leaders are living in, while calling it high time for Europe to act swiftly and decisively.

The EU's growth gap with the U.S. is widening and China is catching up, he added.

Citing the numbers that China has grown by around 8 percent per year over the past 20 years, the U.S. by 2 percent and EU on average only by 1 percent, Merz said: "We must close up this gap, we must close it up now."

The German chancellor went further in calling for the EU to deregulate.

"China built the world's largest solar farms within few months. In the EU, it takes years just for the project to get approved," said Merz, adding that "over regulation in this European Union, our European continent, hampers our economic growth. It makes the EU less attractive for investment."

He proposed to implement a fundamental principle in most permitting processes. "Any project that is not treated within few weeks or months will be regarded approved automatically."

"This is what our companies and our citizens expect of their administrations and their governments. And I believe it is their right," Merz said, drawing applause from the audience.

"We must deregulate every sector. I call for a 'regulatory clean slate.' Minor corrections to laws are not sufficient. We need to systematically review the whole set of existing EU legislation," Merz added.

Merz is among 27 EU leaders gathering in Belgium to discuss a number of questions to fortify the continent's competitiveness in talks over the course of two days, with the meeting in Antwerp having been the first day of talks.

The leaders are set to gather in a Belgian castle east of Brussels on Thursday to discuss a variety of topics, including boosting the European single market to compete globally.