Mattarella: “The EU’s financial framework must be ambitious. We must press ahead with enlargement to include Ukraine and other countries”

“A decisive factor is the negotiation on the European Union’s Multiannual Financial Framework, because the choices we make will determine not only the distribution of resources, but also the level of ambition with which Europe intends to tackle the transformations currently underway. I hope it will be sufficiently ambitious.” This was stated by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, speaking at the Arraiolos Group meeting in Ljubljana. In his speech, the Head of State addressed the EU budget on the final day of the European Council, which Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is also attending. “Increasing responsibilities must be matched by adequate instruments and resources to support common priorities, strengthen cohesion and translate political objectives into a concrete capacity for action,” he said.

He added: “We need to complete the Union’s financial system: in our engagement – which we always seek to be collaborative – with other strong economies, we cannot remain for long with a complex structure that is incomplete.” According to Mattarella: “It will be extremely difficult to reach the agreements needed to achieve this, but it is essential. Among the steps to be taken, there is broad consensus on the need to strengthen European competitiveness.”

The Head of State also spoke about Ukraine: “We need to speed up the process of European Union enlargement, from the countries of the Western Balkans to Ukraine and Moldova: a Union with well over thirty members could not function under the current decision-making procedures,” he explained. For this reason, Mattarella says: “The interests of today’s generation and those of future generations require that we press ahead with determination on the necessary internal reforms. The speed with which new problems of decisive importance arise – and follow one another – around the world demands timely responses (delayed responses are of little or no effect). Without swift decision-making, these issues in international affairs would be decided by other actors, and in Europe we would passively suffer the consequences.”

“There is no need for many words regarding the necessity of collective defence, as we proceed with determination and speed towards the interoperability of our military assets,” the President of the Republic went on to say, speaking about defence spending. “This is,” continued Mattarella, “both because it is an essential prerequisite for common defence and to strengthen NATO on the European front, and to restore the balance in relation to Russia’s stance; a balance which, throughout history, has always been the guarantee of peace, thwarting any temptations towards aggression.”

And again: “The future of our European project is a highly topical issue, as demonstrated by the current international situation, marked by profound shifts in the geopolitical balance and the re-emergence of conflicts and tensions on Europe’s borders.” Thus, according to Mattarella, “the EU faces extraordinary challenges affecting its security, its prosperity and its ability to act with authority on the international stage, with significant consequences for the lives of our citizens. No country on the continent – not a single one – can envisage a future separate from that of the others: it would be an escape from reality and, even more than an illusion, an act of self-harm”.