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Remarks by President António Costa at the press conference following the European Council meeting of 26 June 2025

European Council / Council of the European Union

European Council
Statements and remarks
27 June 2025 00:40

We have concluded the last European Council during the Polish Presidency. Donald, it was a true pleasure and honour to share this first full semester in office with you. Thank you very much for your support.

The motto of your Presidency was 'Security Europe', and you have delivered: through agreements on strategic files, such as the SAFE instrument and the European Defence Industry Programme; through two packages of sanctions against Russia; and you have implemented an ambitious agenda on competitiveness and simplification. For all that, let me say thank you very much.

Tonight, we focused on how to ensure a strong position for the European Union on the global stage.

First, by working on European defence. Yesterday, at NATO, 23 European Union member states decided to spend more. Today, we worked on how to spend better. Investing together, more rationally, more efficiently. As a team. Through aggregation of demand, joint procurement, standardisation and simplification. Boosting European research, European industry, European jobs - for European security and prosperity.

We don't need to replicate the same capabilities in each member state. We don't need to multiply by 27 all our investments in defence. What we do need is efficiency and fair burden-sharing. What we do need is to build a common European defence system that deters aggression.

And we are delivering on a first set of instruments: joint European investment under the SAFE instrument; increased national investment through the use of the escape clause in the Stability and Growth Pact; more private investment supported by the European Investment Bank.

But this is not the end of the story. We must go further and provide the means to match our ambitions. So, today we asked the President of the Commission, dear Ursula, and the High Representative to propose a roadmap, including on financing, ahead of our meeting in October.

Europe's security is interlinked with Ukraine's security. This is why we continue to push for a just and lasting peace, while paving the way for European Union membership. On this, our objective remains firm and unchanged.

The Commission's assessment is clear: despite the incredibly difficult circumstances, the Ukrainian government is carrying out reforms at an impressive pace. So now is the time to intensify our work and advance on the path towards European Union accession.

At the same time, we are keeping up the pressure on Russia. We have adopted 17 packages of sanctions. And the work to deliver a new, powerful package is well under way. We have said it all along: the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine seriously undermines global security and the international rules-based order.

The respect for international law and the UN Charter - which was signed exactly 80 years ago today - has been the foundation of our position on Ukraine. It is also the foundation of our position on the Middle East.

The ceasefire between Israel and Iran is an important step towards restoring stability in the region. Now we need to focus on effective diplomacy. And here Europe has a role to play. To ensure - in a lasting, sustainable way - that Iran is never allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. By fully complying with the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Any overall, sustainable peace in the Middle East requires a lasting solution in Gaza. The humanitarian situation there is catastrophic and human rights are being violated. The review of Israel's compliance with our joint Association Agreement has confirmed this. It is an unacceptable situation. Our foreign ministers will discuss the next steps.

In the meantime, we need to engage in a frank dialogue with Israel - to get out of this crisis and to change the situation on the ground. And of course, we can never forget that Hamas needs to immediately free the remaining hostages. Our overarching strategy is clear: to have real peace in the Middle East, it is essential to make the two-state solution a reality. We need to make progress in this direction.

Finally, to reinforce Europe's position on the global stage we are stepping up our internal work on improving competitiveness. First of all with the very good work by the European Commission to develop our network on trade. Our recent bilateral summits with like-minded allies such as the United Kingdom and Canada, or other key partners like South Africa or Central Asian countries, show that the world counts on the European Union to foster global stability and security. And the prosperity of our citizens depends on global stability and security.

The upcoming summits with Moldova, Japan, China and the countries of Latin America, the Caribbean and the African Union in the second half of this year will give us further opportunities to promote fair and reliable trade, economic security and to shape the clean transition.

At the same time, the more competitive the European Union is, the more we will be able to shape the global economy. So we are deepening our single market and pushing to unlock the full potential of the euro. Because the euro is one of the cornerstones of Europe's economic power and global leadership.

This is what the leaders focused on today.

Thank you.