Ladies and Gentlemen,

After regulatory changes, a budget revolution.

The competitiveness fund I present today can be summed up in one simple phrase: a powerful investment in strategic sectors throughout the development cycle, from research to production. In short, its a true Draghi fund.

No more scattering. We are taking decisive industrial choices for the most strategic technologies for our continents future – clean tech, AI, quantum, biotech, defense, and space. We are equipping ourselves with the necessary and innovative tools to support production, Important Projects of Common European Interest, and our value chains.

Because yes, we want to produce more in Europe, create more jobs in Europe. This is one of the new guiding principles in our budget: European preference. I stand by this; European taxpayers money should primarily benefit companies located in Europe.

No more valley of death. As you know, Ive been repeating this for months. Europe must be at the forefront of scale-up, the poor cousin of the budget. The result is that ideas invented here are produced elsewhere. Not only are we addressing this, but we are making it a priority. This is the essence of the interconnection with the Horizon Europe research program, whose scientific excellence aligns with the same economic priorities.

No more obstacle courses, dozens of programs, dozens of committees, dozens of conflicting criteria. We are establishing a unified fund, a single set of specifications, and a one-stop shop. This is nothing less than the largest budgetary rationalization exercise ever undertaken.

A word to conclude on the part you are most eager about – the amounts. I say it loud and clear: this is an unprecedented effort for Europes competitiveness. The dedicated budget is multiplied by three, rising from 134 to 450 billion euros! By five for defense and digital.

And we do not intend to stop there. We will prioritize mobilizing private investments through our toolbox of financial instruments: guarantees, equities, loans. De-risking means enabling investments. De-risking means providing an outlet for investors in Europe for European projects.

Thanks to this, we will far exceed 1,000 billion investments in the economy in the next MFF. And I count on the Council and the European Parliament to assist us, to be present in a context of geo-economic tensions.

There you go, Ladies and Gentlemen, over the last six months, the European Commission has launched a significant number of initiatives to reindustrialize Europe. Today, it is providing itself with the means to do so.

We invest more. We invest better. We invest European.