Remarks by Commissioner Síkela, Šuica and Kos on the Global Europe instrument

"Check against delivery"

Commissioner Síkela 

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, 

We have entered an era of growing geopolitical challenges. From climate-driven instability and global migration pressures to rising competition over critical raw materials, global influence, and market access.  

But to Europe – as a reliable, trustworthy partner - the current situation also brings new opportunities. Opportunities to build strategic partnerships. To open new markets for European companies. 

This is why Europe needs a stronger and more agile external action. If we want to shape our environment, we must equip ourselves with the right tools to act strategically and with impact. 

The new Global Europe instrument approved yesterday is one of the key pillars of the future Multiannual Financial Framework and gives us that capacity. 

It is built around four core objectives: 

1. Simplification – we merge multiple instruments into one to reduce fragmentation and make EU financing more accessible and more efficient.
2. Coherence – the fund ensures our external investments are aligned with internal priorities: competitiveness, the green transition, digitalisation, and irregular migration.
3. Flexibility – we introduce a reserve to respond quickly to geopolitical shocks or seize new opportunities.
4. Impact – it maximises the strategic impact of our activities and allows us to build strategic partnerships worldwide. 

The fund is organised into six pillars - five regional and one global - while maintaining a differentiated, tailored approach to each region and policy area. This will allow us to deliver consistent, long-term investment alongside targeted responses to crises when needed. 

Crucially, Global Europe is also the financial backbone of Global Gateway. It enables us to strengthen cooperation with the European private sector and to mobilise private capital through de-risking, making large, transformative investments possible. 

This is how we create mutually beneficial partnerships that support sustainable human development and deliver tangible benefits for our partners, our citizens, and our businesses. 

Stronger external action means better outcomes in Europe, and the Global Europe Fund will help us deliver exactly that. We have allocated more than €200 billion to this instrument, a significant increase compared to the previous MFF. 

This way, we will remain a reliable and predictable partner. And we can turn this into stronger strategic partnerships that reinforce Europe's global position. 

Last but not least, let me thank my colleagues Commissioners Marta Kos and Dubravka Šuica and their teams for the successful cooperation on preparing this important measure. 

Thank you very much for your attention and I am ready for your questions. 

Commissioner Šuica 

Good morning to everybody, dear Jozef, dear Marta, 

Today marks a major milestone in our external action. 

Under the Global Europe Instrument – I will go in media res – we have doubled the funding for the MENA region, now reaching €42.5 billion.  

This is a strong financial toolbox, with which we will invest in stability, security and prosperity, through mutually beneficial partnerships with our Southern neighbours in the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf.  

We will be able to address our strategic interests in these critical regions more effectively, and we will do it in close cooperation with our partners in the South. 

But this is not only about funding.  

Global Europe empowers us to be a player, not just a payer – this is what we are saying all the time. 

It will also enable us to deliver the New Pact for the Mediterranean, which I will present in October. 

Let us be clear: investing in the region is investing in our own stability, competitiveness, and prosperity. The Mediterranean is not only a region of challenges but also a region of opportunities. 

This instrument will apply as of 2028. But it is already clear that the challenges that our partners face will not go away and will – if anything – have an even bigger impact on us in the European Union. 

We will address the fall-out of conflicts and help pave the way to recovery, reconstruction and reform. 

We will help partners tackle the roots of socio-economic fragility, which lies at the heart of political instability and radicalization. 

We will also address the green transition challenge by investing in renewable energy generation, for the benefit of citizens on both shores of the Mediterranean.  

We will also enhance investments in security and safe borders, to better control human smuggling and illegal migration. But we will also develop legal pathways for migration. 

We will also support firmly the so-called people-to-people exchanges. Concretely: we will build a true Mediterranean University network; we will expand the Erasmus exchanges with our partner countries; and we will step up investments in cultural and sports cooperation.  

In short, these increased funds will enable us to respond more effectively to an increasingly volatile geopolitical context right at our doorstep. 

The stability and prosperity of the Mediterranean are directly linked to our own. Their safety is our safety. Their success is our shared success. Their protection of borders is also ours. 

This is also what our own citizens demand. The new EU budget reflects the voices of our citizens.  

In May, this year, 150 randomly selected citizens gathered as part of the European Citizens' Panel to discuss the future European budget. Their priorities, such as security, defence, economic resilience, and democratic values are here reflected.  

Dear ladies and gentlemen, let me close with a word on demography, which I am also responsible for. 

Demographic change is the challenge of the century. It affects all sectors, from labour markets and healthcare to territorial cohesion and social services. A shrinking population risks deepening regional disparities. 

It is a pressing issue. This is why we have, for the first time, explicitly listed addressing demographic challenges as objectives in the National and Regional Partnership Plans.   

This will give Member States the opportunity to use European funds to invest in skills, to attract talent, to support vulnerable age groups, to boost productivity, and also to invest in healthy longevity and address shortages on our European labour market.  

So today, we also answer the call of the European Parliament and Member States by stepping up our action on demography. 

To conclude: the Multiannual Financial Framework is an instrument that will make our Union stronger, internally and on the world stage. This new framework enables us to better protect our interest on a global stage and protect our values and interests in an increasingly complex geopolitical context.   

Thank you. 

Commissioner Kos 

This MFF is really good news for enlargement. 

Dear journalists and representatives of the media, it shows that it is a clear political and geostrategic priority for the European Union.  

Accession talks with Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine have never progressed faster, and many of our candidate countries have the ambition to conclude negotiations in the coming years. They are our most reliable partners, we are supporting them as much as we can, and the new MFF  is reflecting this reality. 

How? I would like to mention three points. 

First, it includes a very significant increase in funding to match the increased speed of candidate countries.  

In the present MFF we have EUR 31bn for candidate counties and our eastern neighbourhood. This MFF proposal includes EUR 42.6 bn. This is an increase of 37%.  

Every budget is our policy priorities cast in numbers, and with a bigger budget we can further step up the pace of reforms and investments, bringing countries closer to EU membership.  

Second, we have a dedicated €100 billion allocation to support Ukraine's reforms, its reconstruction, modernisation and its path into the EU.  

This money will help provide Ukraine with financial stability after 2028. Whoever thought European support would weaken over time was wrong. Time is really not on Russia's side.  

Crucially, funding for Ukraine is kept separate and over and above MFF ceilings. This ensures that the Union can meet Ukraine's exceptional needs without compromising other priorities of the external action. 

And third, all this funding is based on two principles which we are already following now.  

The first one is [that of a] merit-based [process]. The second one is conditionality, meaning that countries are only getting the money if they fulfil certain criteria mostly laid out in the reform agendas. 

As I said, some candidates are working towards concluding negotiations during the next MFF or even earlier, and the Commission will work tirelessly to help them achieve this.  

Once they do, the next step will be to negotiate accession treaties that define elements such as the phasing in of structural and agricultural funds, as well as each country's contribution to the EU budget. 

At that stage, we will need to make sure to provide adequate financing to the new Member States. 

All in all, this MFF proposal is a strong basis to deliver on enlargement.  

It is also opening the full toolbox of Global Europe to candidate countries – not only technical assistance but also support for reforms and investments, backed by resources. 

As I love to say, enlargement is not just about making the EU bigger in the number of square kilometres and in the number of people. It is much more: it is about the unification of Europe. 

So, by stepping up support to all those who are putting in the hard work to meet membership conditions, we are on the way to unifying our Europe.