I am glad to be here at the EPC. It is a good opportunity to discuss all the issues that we have in common with the fellow European Leaders. Let me take the opportunity to congratulate again Donald J. Trump for his clear victory. I am looking forward to working with him again to strengthen the transatlantic bound.
We will discuss here specifically the topics for the next years ahead of us. We have shown that Europe can take responsibility by standing together. We have shown this during the pandemic, standing together we overcame the economic impact of the pandemic; we have shown this in the severe energy crisis that was unleashed by Russia's war in Ukraine; and now it is important for us to pave the way forward.
We have three points that we will discuss. The first is a joint plan for competitiveness, digitalisation and decarbonisation. The second is to overcome our overdependencies and to create more level-playing field for our economies and our businesses. Both points are basically the Draghi report. And the third element is that we boost our defence capabilities and investments and create more preparedness. This is basically the Niinistö report. So it pays off now that a year ago I asked both Mario Draghi and Sauli Niinistö to write their reports, and now we are building on this. The future of Europe is in our hands, we have to act now.
