Dear Prime Minister,
Dear Ministers,
Thank you for the invitation to Lithuania and the opportunity to attend the EU Investments Conference.
It is a great pleasure to be here today.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Europe faces a challenging moment.
Recent events concern all of Europe, but since the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine, eastern border Countries have borne the heaviest burden on their economies, communities, and citizens.
And as President Von der Leyen said we are in a fight for our values and our democracies. A fight for our liberty.
Europe is in a fight, and we will defend every inch of its territory.
We have different tool to win this challenge.
I will focus on the powerful instruments that are included in my portfolio: the cohesion policy and, together with Commissioner Dombrovskis, the recovery and resilience facility.
On cohesion policy, as you know:
- It is one third of the current MFF
- Its objective is to reduce disparities among regions
- and is the policy that has the biggest impact on member states, regions, cities and citizens.
This is why my first act, at the start of my mandate, was to open a dialogue, and I met with ALL European ministers responsible for cohesion policy.
But not only.
During my missions, I met also
- President of Regions
- Local authorities
- Stakeholders
Everywhere, I heard the same message: cohesion policy must continue to provide tailored solutions.
And at the same time, challenges and needs are evolving rapidly.
So, if we want to have an effective cohesion policy, we need to modernise, make it more flexible and simplied.
This is why the Commission has adopted the mid-term review package, already entered into force, to respond quickly and effectively to emerging challenges.
The mid-term review gives Member States and regions more options to direct funding, on a voluntary basis, to the most urgent needs now.
Our proposals focus on five priority goals, which are the outcome of my meetings with all the ministers and stakeholders.
Competitiveness – More investment in strategic technologies, and support for companies, because growth and cohesion go hand in hand.
Energy Transition – Focus on energy interconnectors and recharging infrastructure.
Affordable Housing – Affecting mainly the cities all over Europe
Water Resilience – Again, this is a territorial issue. We have seen regions facing water scarcity while others are affected by floods.
Defence – We propose that Member States and regions can use Cohesion funding to support certain defence actions. For example, this can include support to companies in the defence sector or critical infrastructure protection. Especially for the dual use project, for civilian and miliary purpose.
These emerging priorities will be supported by:
- higher co-financing and pre-financing rates,
- longer implementation periods,
- and simplified funding options.
The elements of simplification and flexibility that we introduced in the mid-term review are reflected in the proposals for the next Multiannual Financial Framework presented by the Commission last July.
The proposals simplify the EU budget structure.
For what concern my portfolio and the portfolio that I coordinate, agriculture, transport and tourism, fisheries and blue economy, we ensure consistency and synergy among policies.
Less developed regions will continue to benefit from strong investment funding, with at least €218 billion guaranteed.
This new structure is designed to be:
- responsive to diverse territorial needs,
- and firmly rooted in the principles of cohesion policy:
- partnership,
- shared management,
- multi-level governance,
- and a place-based approach.
Across all meetings and missions, I hear the same demand: simplification and flexibility.
So we are delivering on:
Simplification: with a single set of rules,
Flexibility to reallocate resources fast– and to target specific regions. Such as eastern border regions, rural areas, islands, or outermost regions.
As you know I also share with Commissioner Dombrovskis the responsibility on the Next Generation EU.
The RRF has had a great stabilizing effect on European economies.
Now we are close to the deadline, august 2026, and we are working closely with Member States to review their plans to explore alternative measures to use their remaining financial allocations.
In June the Commission adopted a guidance to provide a clear menu of options for this purpose. Also in this case the synergies with cohesion policy are strategic.
Member State can finance with cohesion policy that project that they will not be able to do with RRF.
regions. Such as eastern border regions, rural areas, islands, or outermost regions.
NextGenerationEU 2026
As you know I also share with Commissioner Dombrovskis the responsibility on the Next Generation EU.
The RRF has had a great stabilizing effect on European economies.
Now we are close to the deadline, august 2026, and we are working closely with Member States to review their plans to explore alternative measures to use their remaining financial allocations.
In June the Commission adopted a guidance to provide a clear menu of options for this purpose. Also in this case the synergies with cohesion policy are strategic.
Member State can finance with cohesion policy that project that they will not be able to do with RRF.
Specific attention to easter border regions
Dear guests, since the beginning of my mandate, I have visited Finland, Poland, Latvia, Estonia – and I am really glad to be here in Lithuania today.
In each of these countries, I have made it a priority to visit not only the capitals but also the border regions.
In fact, after this conference, I will go to Medininkai, at the border with Belarus.
For me, visiting these places is essential,
because only by seeing the situation on the ground we can fully understand local needs and design tailored solutions.
These regions face the dual challenge of strengthening security while revitalising their economies and societies.
Supporting them is a top priority for this Commission.
Lithuania and other regions bordering Russia and Belarus are under growing pressure, especially in recent days.
This is why our first step was to modernize the cohesion policy, making it able to address these new and urgent challenges.
Secondly, in June we launched together the Pact for Eastern border regions.
In Poland, during the Polish Presidency of the Council, at the Conference in Białowieża ,together with Minister Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, which I thank again for the fruitful cooperation, and many of you, we launched the Pact for Eastern border regions.
The goal is to undertake comprehensive actions for physical and economic security. Ensuring investment to support defence, bring back business confidence, rebranding these regions that suffered a big loss in particular in terms of tourism, and supporting sense of security of the people.
This Pact its the result of your input, suggestions and meeting we had in the last months, with ministers and stakeholders.
Last week we closed the call for evidence, we are very satisfied with the number and quality of contribution, for which I thank you all.
Our goal is to adopt a Commission Communication ideally by the end of this year or early 2026.
Dear guests,
No-where the strategic context following the invasion of Russia against Ukraine is more tangible than along our eastern border.
These regions are deeply important to the Commission – and supporting them is one of my priorities from the very start of my mandate.
The eastern border regions do not represent national borders but they are European borders.
Our action in these regions plays a key role to defend our common European values.
Our duty is to ensure that the people in these regions feel safe, protected, and supported.
Our goal, written in my mission letter, is to guarantee to European people have the right to stay in places that they call home.
And we started from easter border regions.
The Commission will continue to work together with you to deliver a strong, coordinated, and lasting response.
I am therefore grateful to the Ministry of Finance for organising this important conference.
Thank you!
