Opening remarks by President von der Leyen at the joint press conference with President Michel and Prime Minister Sánchez following the meeting of the European Council of 15 December 2023

Opening remarks by the President: EUCO December 2023

I would like to start with a big thank you to you Prime Minister, dear Pedro, and I would like to thank the Spanish team that has been working so tirelessly on this excellent Spanish Presidency over the last six months. Thanks to your dedication and to your commitment, I think we brought a large number of key files past the finish line. Some of them are crucial for our future economic competitiveness. Just take for example the Artificial Intelligence Act that has been agreed last week after a marathon trilogue. It will allow Europe to develop artificial intelligence that people can trust. So it strikes the fine balance between security and innovation potential that lies in artificial intelligence. Or take the Critical Raw Materials Act that has also been agreed under your Presidency. With it, Europe will power the clean energy transition with secure and sustainable raw material supplies. It is of utmost importance for us that we strengthen our supply chains for raw materials, because they are crucial inputs for the digital and the green transition. You also made good progress on the Net-Zero Industry Act. Now it will be for the Belgian Presidency to take this work forward. So, congratulations on an impressive work. I counted over 50 political agreements that have been reached. And I want to mention a last big file where great progress has been made, that is the Pact on Migration and Asylum. Here, we aim for a political agreement on the Pact by the end of this year. So this would complete the extraordinary track record of this Presidency.

Now, this Presidency ends and the new year will start with excellent news for the European Union and our neighbourhood and friends. Because of yesterday's decision, the European Council has decided to take steps forward on enlargement. This will be a landmark in our common history. We have decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. We have decided to grant Georgia the candidate country status. We have decided to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina once the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria is achieved. And we have strongly reiterated our collective commitment to a future where all six Western Balkan partners are part of our Union. For example, for Albania and North Macedonia, the Commission's objective is to open accession negotiations on the first so-called fundamentals' cluster as soon as possible. The attempt is to reach that goal next week.

I think that yesterday's decisions show that the European Union is living up to its promise. The reasons for enlargement today have never been stronger and more compelling. In a world that is shaken by multiple crises, it is an investment in stability and security of our continent. But of course, it is also an investment in prosperity for our continent. And it is a big investment in democracies that stand tall and united.

Let me now turn to the revision of the EU multi-annual budget. As you know, the current budget was designed right before the numerous crises we have encountered since its adoption. It was designed before the pandemic, before Russia's war in Ukraine, before the severe energy crisis and the inflation that this energy crisis sparked. It was, of course, designed before the Middle East crisis, not to speak of the ever-increasing number of natural disasters that we are witnessing. We have extensively mobilised our EU budget to provide the necessary support and answers. But we have now come to the limits of our budget to answer these unexpected crises. And that is the reason why back in June, the Commission proposed a reinforcement of the EU budget. We put forward very clear priorities. Of course, the first priority is Ukraine, the support to Ukraine; then, the work on migration; the boost of Europe's competitiveness, our answer to the Inflation Reduction Act for example. We also ask for a top-up to deal with natural disasters and humanitarian crises. And finally, we need to adapt the budget to increasing interest rates.

Now, 26 Member States confirmed those key priorities and agree to provide additional financing to meet them. I wholeheartedly thank them for their support. This is a good result. The agreement also addresses the concerns of the Member States related to their national budgetary constraints. And thus, the agreement includes redeployments and reprioritisation alongside new funding. And you can imagine that this combination, redeployment and new funding, required tough choices. We have taken those choices. However, unfortunately, we did not manage to reach unanimity yesterday. Hungary was unable to support. There is now a new rendezvous early next year. We will use, as a Commission, the time until then to ensure that whatever happens at this next EUCO, we will have an operational solution.

Finally, let me briefly turn to our discussion on the situation in the Middle East. Both sides have to do their utmost to protect civilian lives, and Hamas has to release all hostages unconditionally. The Commission's immediate priority is to deliver as much humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip as possible. By the end of today, Team Europe will have organised 28 humanitarian air bridge flights. Altogether, those flights will have delivered around 1,200 tonnes of aid. And we are still planning another five flights before the end of the year. In addition to emergency aid, indeed, we must also try to work on the day after. There can be no peace unless there is the prospect of a political solution, both for Israelis and Palestinians. And this is the two-state solution. There has been a growing consensus on principles to guide our work: There can be no forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. Gaza cannot be a safe haven for Hamas. Hamas cannot be in the governance structure of a Palestinian state. A reformed Palestinian Authority must govern both West Bank and Gaza. And there can be no mid or long-term security presence of Israel in Gaza.

Building on the fact that we are the largest donor, and therefore have an influence in the region and are well connected in the region, and building on the fact of our experience, these principles, we are working on with partners in the region, because this is a good foundation to create the solution everyone is asking for.

Thank you very much.

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