Commissioner Síkela
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,
We are facing significant geopolitical challenges, including climate-driven instability and global migration pressures. However, these challenges also present new opportunities for Europe to establish strategic partnerships and open new markets for European companies.
This underscores the need for a more agile external action from Europe to shape our environment effectively. The new Global Europe instrument, approved yesterday, is crucial for this purpose.
It focuses on four core objectives:
- Simplification – merging multiple instruments to reduce fragmentation and enhance the accessibility and efficiency of EU financing.
- Coherence – ensuring external investments align with internal priorities such as competitiveness, green transition, digitalization, and addressing irregular migration.
- Flexibility – introducing a reserve to respond swiftly to geopolitical shocks and seize new opportunities.
- Impact – maximizing the strategic impact of our activities and fostering global partnerships.
The fund consists of six pillars: five regional and one global, tailored to each regions needs. This approach ensures consistent, long-term investments while allowing targeted responses to crises.
Importantly, Global Europe serves as the financial backbone of the Global Gateway, enhancing cooperation with the European private sector and mobilizing private capital for transformative investments.
Stronger external action leads to better outcomes in Europe, and the Global Europe Fund, with over €200 billion allocated, represents a significant increase compared to the previous Multiannual Financial Framework.
This will help us remain a reliable partner and strengthen our strategic partnerships globally.
Lastly, I want to thank my colleagues, Commissioners Marta Kos and Dubravka Šuica, and their teams for their cooperation on this important initiative.
Thank you for your attention. I am now ready for your questions.
Commissioner Šuica
Good morning everyone, dear Jozef, dear Marta,
Today marks a significant milestone in our external action.
With the Global Europe Instrument, we have doubled the funding for the MENA region to €42.5 billion.
This robust financial toolbox will facilitate investments in stability, security, and prosperity through mutually beneficial partnerships with our Southern neighbors.
Our strategic interests in these regions will be addressed more effectively in close cooperation with our partners.
However, this is not just about funding.
Global Europe empowers us to be a player, not just a payer.
It will also support the delivery of the New Pact for the Mediterranean, which I will present in October.
Investing in the region is crucial for our own stability and prosperity, as the Mediterranean presents both challenges and opportunities.
This instrument will take effect in 2028, but we recognize that the challenges faced by our partners are ongoing and will significantly impact the European Union.
We will assist in addressing the fallout from conflicts, facilitating recovery, reconstruction, and reform.
Additionally, we will tackle the roots of socio-economic fragility that lead to political instability and radicalization.
Investments in renewable energy will also be a priority for both shores of the Mediterranean.
We will enhance security investments and safe borders to manage human smuggling and illegal migration while developing legal migration pathways.
Furthermore, we will support people-to-people exchanges, establishing a Mediterranean University network, expanding Erasmus exchanges, and investing in cultural and sports cooperation.
The increased funds will enable us to respond effectively to the volatile geopolitical context at our doorstep.
The stability and prosperity of the Mediterranean are directly linked to ours. Their safety is our safety. Their success is our shared success.
This is what our citizens demand. The new EU budget reflects their voices.
In May, 150 randomly selected citizens participated in the European Citizens Panel to discuss the future European budget, and their priorities are reflected here.
In conclusion, demographic change is a significant challenge of this century, impacting various sectors, including labor markets and social services.
This issue has been explicitly included as an objective in the National and Regional Partnership Plans, allowing Member States to use EU funds for skills investment, talent attraction, and addressing labor market shortages.
Today, we respond to the European Parliaments and Member States call for increased action on demographics.
To conclude, the Multiannual Financial Framework strengthens our Union both internally and globally, enabling us to protect our interests and values in a complex geopolitical context.
Thank you.
Commissioner Kos
This MFF is excellent news for enlargement.
Dear journalists and media representatives, it demonstrates the EUs clear political and geostrategic priority.
Accession talks with Montenegro, Albania, Moldova, and Ukraine are progressing rapidly, and many candidate countries aim to conclude negotiations soon.
How? Three key points:
First, a significant funding increase to match the pace of candidate countries. The current MFF allocates €31 billion for candidate countries, whereas this proposal includes €42.6 billion, a 37% increase.
Second, we have dedicated €100 billion to support Ukraines reforms and its path to EU membership, ensuring separate funding to meet Ukraines exceptional needs.
Third, this funding is based on merit-based processes and conditionality, meaning countries receive support only if they meet specified criteria.
Overall, this MFF proposal provides a strong foundation for enlargement and opens the full toolbox of Global Europe to candidate countries, supporting reforms and investments.
Enlargement is not just about increasing the EUs size; it is about unifying Europe.
By supporting those working hard to meet membership conditions, we are progressing towards a unified Europe.