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Mission accomplished! The European Council has delivered. As you know, we had important topics that we needed to fix today, and we did so. It's a great pleasure and a great honour for me to announce the decisions that have been taken by the European Council.
I am pleased to inform you of the decisions taken on appointments and nominations for the next institutional cycle. António Costa has been elected President of the European Council. The heads of state or government have proposed Ursula von der Leyen as President of the Commission for the next institutional cycle and Kaja Kallas as High Representative.
This means that the European Council has done its duty in full. We had topics on the agenda that were important, essential, and perhaps even weighty.
Within just a few hours this evening – faster than expected – we were able to conclude all items, including appointments and nominations. This is a strong signal we are sending to European citizens. It is a strong signal in terms of European democracy, as leaders took into account both the outcome of the European elections and the preparatory work on the strategic agenda.
Now the institutional process will continue as regards the President of the Commission and the High Representative, with the European Parliament assuming its responsibility in the coming weeks.
Last week I represented the European Council in the preparatory coordination meetings at the European Parliament. I wish those who will take on these responsibilities for the next five years all the best. I wish you every success in carrying out your roles.
There were many extremely important items on the agenda for this European Council meeting.
The first one I would like to mention is the strategic agenda. It is the responsibility of the European Council to fix the orientations for the five years to come. We started to prepare this important document – this important strategic orientation – many months ago. We started in Granada under the Spanish presidency, and today we affirmed and decided to finalise this process.
Three important pillars. First: democratic values, democratic principles. This is the inspiration. This is the guiding compass for all of us. It is important never to give up, but to support these fundamental principles and values.
Second: we have to develop our competitiveness and we have to support all possible measures for more prosperity across the EU. Five years ago, we decided that the digital transition, on the one hand, and the climate transition on the other should be our economic engines for the future. We understand that we need to adapt the paradigm of our economic prosperity, our economic development. We want to do that in a way that supports our competitiveness and supports our industrial base and technological base, and supports our SMEs. A few weeks ago we had the opportunity, together with Enrico Letta, through his report, to have an in-depth debate in the European Council on these topics and on the strategic agenda and we are making additional progress. We have a very strong ambition in that field.
Third: we are also determined to be much more efficient and much more effective in the field of European defence and security. We want to develop flagship projects. We want to work together to identify how we can dedicate more financial support in the field of defence, more joint procurement, more common projects in line with NATO. NATO is a cornerstone for our collective defence and security. You will see in these documents this ambition in the field of security and defence, including in the field of the protection of borders...
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