“We must deliver for our citizens. On quality jobs, wages and housing affordability. Because social cohesion and prosperity are two sides of the same coin – on their own, neither would be sustainable”. In his address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Antonio Costa did not neglect economic and social issues. On 12 February, he decided to convene a “strategic brainstorming session of European Leaders” to “discuss how best to harness the full potential of Europe’s Single Market in a new geoeconomic context”. The European Union is a powerful Single Market. We need to deepen it, to complete it”. “How?”, Antonio Costa asked. “By making it easier to bring businesses, services and investments across borders. By reducing red tape at all levels, while maintaining our policy ambitions. By combining affordable, secure and sustainable energy sources, in a truly integrated European energy market. By strengthening our digital sovereignty – defending our standards and regulatory independence against tech oligarchs – while protecting our children from deregulated and unconstrained social media. By promoting a Savings and Investment Union that channels savings into productive investments within the European Union”. And, he went on to say, “through trade. Trade deals are global rulebooks; tariffs are taxes on citizens and companies. The European Union has built the most extensive network of trade agreements, covering 78 countries, and the Commission is making impressive progress in negotiations with countries like India, Australia, Thailand, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates, to name just a few”.