After being elected President of the European Council, I decided to visit all Member States every year to meet bilaterally with each of the European leaders. These meetings are, above all, an opportunity to listen and thus always have a clear understanding of the concerns, priorities, and expectations of the members of the European Council and the citizens they represent. They also allow me to convey my views on the challenges and opportunities our Union faces. The visits take place at the beginning of the political season, offering a comprehensive and unique overview of the state of our Union and helping to ensure that the work of the European Council continues to be based at all times on the realities, priorities, and aspirations of all of Europe.
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One of the defining features of European integration is that its most tangible benefits often go unnoticed precisely because they have become part of our daily lives. We cross borders easily. We share the same currency from Lisbon to Helsinki and from Dublin to Athens. We benefit from common rules that protect our environment, our health, and our quality of life. We support each other to face natural disasters — such as the devastating wildfires this summer — public health emergencies, and other common challenges. And when we travel around Europe, we stay in touch with family and friends without worrying at all about mobile roaming charges. What has become normal in our daily lives is, in fact, the result of decades of common European effort.
All this lays a very solid foundation on which to continue building Europe. A stronger, more resilient, and more autonomous Europe is more important than ever in today’s geopolitical reality.
That is why we are building the Europe of Defence: to strengthen our deterrence capacity against threats, protect our citizens, and ultimately restore peace on our continent. A peace that Russia has destroyed with its ongoing aggression against Ukraine. The EU has set the goal of decisively increasing Europe’s defence preparedness by 2030 by strengthening the European defence industry, reducing strategic dependencies, and jointly developing priority military capabilities. The key is that the necessary European rearmament is carried out collaboratively, avoiding duplication and waste and, above all, ensuring that this historic initiative strengthens Europe’s collective security and defence as a whole.
To increase European strategic autonomy, a more competitive economy is also necessary. That is why the European Union is facilitating business activity by reducing bureaucracy, mobilizing private investment to help companies grow and innovate, completing the single market, strengthening supply chains and diversifying trade relations, as well as securing access to essential raw materials and affordable, clean, and domestic energy sources. In all these areas, the One Europe, One Market plan agreed by the European Council sets concrete targets to be achieved by the end of 2027. Beyond the geopolitical imperative, it is ultimately about making life more affordable for citizens, creating conditions for quality job creation, and improving the resilience of the European social market economy.
Defence and competitiveness, along with the EU enlargement and our continued support for Ukraine, will feature prominently in the agenda of my meetings with European leaders during this year’s capital tour.
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However, among the fundamental decisions we have to make this year, one stands out above the rest: reaching an agreement before the end of the year on the next multiannual financial framework of the EU, our long-term budget for 2028-2034.
Why must this agreement be reached before the end of 2026? Because afterwards we will need about a year to establish, both in Brussels and in the Member States, the legislative and administrative framework necessary to ensure the uninterrupted execution of the next EU Budget. It is simply a matter of good planning. Otherwise, we risk interrupting funding intended for farmers, businesses, students, researchers, and innovators.
For decades, the EU Budget has supported sustainable and inclusive growth across our continent through investments in agriculture, our regions, research, and the green and digital transitions. And it will continue to do so. At the same time, the Budget must also reflect the evolution of European priorities, particularly in defence, security, and competitiveness.
Like national budgets, the EU Budget must respond to its priorities within the limits of finite resources. For the most part, the Budget is financed by the national contributions of the Member States. We need to keep those contributions within reasonable limits. That is why a balanced and ambitious package of new own resources will be an essential part of a comprehensive agreement.
I have been greatly encouraged by the constructive spirit that European leaders have shown in the debates on the multiannual budget so far. I am confident that, in the end, we will find the right balance for our Union, for our citizens, and for our future. Because achieving this is our shared responsibility.
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