EU Heads of State or Government gathered for a European Council summit that focused on competitiveness and on the future of European defence.
President Ursula von der Leyen presented to her fellow Leaders the far-reaching proposals that the European Commission has put forward in the first three months of 2025 on both topics.
On the competitiveness side, the European Council welcomed recent Commission initiatives including the Clean Industrial Deal, the two Omnibuses packages on simplification, the action plans for the automotive industry and for steel and metals, and the Savings and Investments Union.
During the closing press conference, President von der Leyen underlined the need to tap into the potential of European savings: "It is very interesting that we are, in Europe, world champion what savings is concerned. Per year €1.4 trillion are being saved, mostly on bank accounts, while in comparison, the American households save $800 billion. And it is not the European market that benefits from being the world champion in savings, but it is mostly other markets, specifically the American market. Why? Because the European capital market is still fragmented, is complicated and is slower."
The Savings and Investments Union will allow citizens to obtain better returns for their money and at the same time, it will give businesses access to fresh capital to grow.
The other main topic of the summit was defence. The President underlined that competitiveness and defence are two sides of the same coin, and she insisted that initiatives such as the Savings and Investment Union will also benefit European defence by channelling investment into the EU's defence industry.
President von der Leyen presented to Leaders the recently adopted Readiness 2030 plan. The plan includes the activation of the National Escape Clause to unlock national investment in defence without risking an Excessive Deficit Procedure.
It also includes SAFE (Security Action for Europe), a scheme to support joint procurement from the European defence industry with up to €150 billion in loans to Member States backed by the EU budget. "We want to spend more together, we want to spend better, and we want to spend more European," the President summarised.
During the press conference, President von der Leyen also made a reference to the EU's continued support to Ukraine in the context of Readiness 2030: "Because Ukraine's security is also the European Union's security, Ukraine and its amazing defence industry will be able to participate in the joint procurement in SAFE."
The European Council welcomed the Commission's defence initiatives and invited the European Parliament and the Council to take work forward swiftly.
