Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that the European Union suffers from excessive bureaucracy and an overload of regulation, as leaders of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) gathered in Zagreb for a two-day informal meeting.
Speaking to reporters on arrival, Merz said reducing red tape was essential to boosting Europe’s competitiveness, signalling one of the key themes expected to dominate discussions among EPP leaders and senior EU officials.
The meeting, hosted by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, is known as the EPP Leaders’ Retreat, an off-the-record gathering aimed at shaping the political and strategic priorities of the EU’s largest political family for the year ahead.
Among those attending are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, EPP President Manfred Weber, and prime ministers and senior officials from several EU member states, including Greece, Poland, Cyprus, Latvia and Luxembourg.
Plenković said in a post on social media platform X that the leaders would discuss global security, economic challenges, transatlantic relations, strengthening European competitiveness and EU enlargement policy.
In addition to the meetings at a Zagreb hotel, Plenković has scheduled bilateral talks with several leaders at government headquarters, including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Merz is expected to hold bilateral talks on Saturday.
Asked about Weber’s recent suggestion that the roles of European Commission president and European Council president should be merged, Merz said it was not the right time to debate changes to the EU’s institutional framework.
The EPP has been the largest political group in the European Parliament since 1999, but recent internal tensions have emerged over issues including trade policy and support for von der Leyen, who has faced several unsuccessful no-confidence motions in recent months.
Disagreements within the group have also surfaced over the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, after lawmakers from several EPP member parties backed a move to refer the deal to the EU’s top court, defying the group’s official line.
Those issues are among the topics being discussed behind closed doors in Zagreb, highlighting the EPP’s efforts to maintain unity as it shapes its political agenda ahead of key EU debates and elections.