Thank you for bringing us here to your hometown of Gdańsk. Indeed, the visit of European Solidarity Centre was truly inspiring. The brave men and women of Solidarność that led the peaceful transition to democracy stood against oppression imposed from Moscow so that their children could grow up in a free country. They anchored Poland to the democratic values of freedom, the rule of law and human rights — the very foundation of the European Union. And look at Poland now about to start its second Presidency in the European Union: This is truly the Gdańsk legacy that we see here, and this is where Poland reclaimed its rightful place in Europe.
Dear Donald,
You have made security the central theme of your Presidency, and rightly so. Since Russia brought war back to the European continent, security lies at the heart of everything we do. The threats we face are more complex and more diverse. The recent incidents in the Baltic Sea show that every piece of infrastructure is a potential target. Hence the need to embed the security dimension into every European policy and action. So let me begin with defence. This new political cycle marks the start of a new era in European defence. Over the three years of Putin's war, we have ramped up our military production. But it is not enough, we have to do more. More than ever, we have to spend more, we have to spend better, and we have to spend together. Because Europe needs a surge in defence. Modern warfare requires scale, technology and coordination – too big for any one of our Member States to handle alone. But this is where joining forces with European cooperation delivers. We will need funding – both public and private; we will need more cooperation – for better interoperability and lower costs; simpler legislation, for instance on public procurement; and more innovation. Finally, if we spend billions of taxpayers' money on defence, we need a return on investment in the form of more know-how and better jobs here in Europe. We, as the Commission, are preparing a White Paper on the future of European defence, and we will present it by mid-March.
My second point is on preparedness. Preparedness must guide us in all our actions to proactively address the full spectrum of threats. Building on the Niinistö report, we will soon propose a Preparedness Union Strategy. Because preparedness must be reflected in every policy. It also means tackling hybrid threats. I know that Poland is under great pressure from the hybrid attacks of the regime in Belarus and Russia. They cynically exploit human despair. They lure migrants to the border, with the cooperation of smugglers, traffickers and criminal networks. This is not just a bilateral issue for Poland alone to deal with. This is a European challenge, so it needs a European solution. Because it is for us, the Europeans, to decide who comes to Europe and under what circumstances. Not Lukashenko or Putin with the help of the smugglers and traffickers. Indeed, we have to increase the common funding for defence and the hybrid threats. And we have discussed at the informal European Council the possibility to give more space for national budgets to increase defence expenditure and fight hybrid threats. The second thought was that we might need common European funding. But we will also need more funding from the European Investment Bank, but also from the private banking sector. And indeed, as you said, Donald, in December, we provided extra funding for the border security in Poland. And during the Presidency, we will present a proposal to increase the support that is possible. But we also have to look at irregular migrants who have no right to stay in the EU, in case of a negative decision on their asylum application. They have to return home to their country. Here, we will present a proposal to speed up these returns.
My third point is on competitiveness. Security and competitiveness go hand in hand. A strong economy makes us more resilient to global shocks and less vulnerable to coercion or dependence. Last week, we launched the Competitiveness Compass – our strategic guide for the coming months and years. The first priority of the Compass is closing the innovation gap. We have very smart people, with breakthrough ideas but they have to get more access to the Single Market to scale up and more access to capital. Specifically, when it comes to artificial intelligence, we have to make sure that smart companies can really work with the European Single Market, our best and biggest asset.
The second priority is a joint roadmap for competitiveness and decarbonisation. And at its heart is the Clean Industrial Deal that we will present at the end of this month. It is about supporting energy-intensive industries, and it is also about supporting our smart start-ups so that they can be more successful with their breakthrough innovation products they are bringing to the market. But of course it is also about reducing energy costs. This must be the prime topic. We are working hard to increase low-carbon energy – that is renewables and nuclear energy – because it is homegrown. Renewable energy is creating good jobs here at home in Europe; it gives us energy security – that is important; it lowers the prices; and most importantly, it makes us independent, especially from Russian fossil fuel.
As you said Donald, on the goals, we stay firm, Europe stays the course on its climate neutrality goal by 2050. Because we all know that the young people, the next generation, our children, would never forgive us if we did not act now. The transition is needed. But on how we get there, on the way forward, we have to be flexible, we have to be pragmatic. This transition has never happened before, so we are all together learning a lot, and we have to adapt at the same time as we reach our goal with a strong economy, a strong industry and with a competitive European Union. We ask our industry what they need to go forward, we work with specific sectors. I have just launched a Strategic Dialogue with the automotive industry to also ask them what we can do, how we can support them so that we will reach their goals that we have set together. And I will soon do the same for the steel sector. Because it also faces specific challenges. It is under great pressure from energy costs to Chinese overcapacity flooding the European market. So we will start a strategic dialogue with the steel sector to really address in a focused manner what they need to reach our common goals.
The third priority is making business simpler and faster. This month, we will have a big simplification package, we call it the Omnibus, it is very important, it is the first in a whole series – we will have a whole fleet of omnibuses. The principle is cutting red tape. We have to make business in Europe faster and easier. We will also propose a Single Market Strategy to improve the functioning of our unique market for all industries. And we will launch a Union of Skills, we know that skilled labour is absolutely needed in the European Union, focusing on lifelong learning and skills retention. The Polish Presidency will play a key role in steering all these discussions – and I have not even named all of them – there is a lot to do, but I know it is in excellent hands.
Finally, dear Donald,
The Polish Presidency also coincides with the first six months of the new US administration. Our transatlantic partnership is fundamental to promoting peace, security and prosperity. But we also recognise potential challenges. There are jobs, businesses, industries here and in the US that rely on the transatlantic partnership. The whole trade volume between us is USD 1.5 trillion. We want to keep the transatlantic partnership strong. Not only because of our historic ties. But because it is simply smart business. So we are engaging, promoting a pragmatic agenda, and at the same time, we will be ready, if necessary, to protect our own interests. As you can see, the work ahead is immense. This is why I am so grateful to have you by my side and to be able to count on Poland's European spirit.
