EU leaders at the summit today reached a first agreement - signed a joint statement on defense, which emphasizes "the need to continue to significantly increase spending on European defense and security and invest better together", UNN writes, citing Politico and the decision of the European Council, published on Thursday.
The European Council emphasizes the need to continue to significantly increase spending on European defense and security, as well as to invest better together, also noting the commitments made at the NATO summit in June 2025 by member states that are also members of NATO. The European Council calls on member states to coordinate the implementation of relevant commitments among themselves
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This, according to Politico, reflects the wording that was noticed in the draft, which welcomes the approval of new funding instruments designed to help EU countries spend more on military equipment amid uncertainty about US commitments to the continent.
"The European Council calls for further work to enable the European defense industry, including small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-cap companies, to increase production," the statement said.
It is stated that the European Council "welcomes the adoption of the regulation on the establishment of the SAFE program" in particular.
The European Council asked the co-legislators to "quickly consider, with a view to reaching a quick agreement, the proposal to stimulate defense-related investments in the EU budget and to advance work on the proposal to address security and defense challenges in the context of the mid-term review of the cohesion policy, recalling the voluntary nature of any such use of funds." EU leaders also welcomed the EIB's efforts and called on it to "continue its efforts to adapt its lending practices to the defense industry."
"The European Council emphasizes that the protection of all land, air and sea borders of the EU contributes to the security of Europe as a whole, in particular with regard to the eastern border of the EU, taking into account the threats emanating from Russia and Belarus," the conclusions state. - In addition, given the threats on the rest of the EU's borders, the European Council emphasizes the importance of their defense."
"The European Council emphasizes the importance of cooperation with like-minded people who share our foreign and security policy goals. In this regard, it welcomes the EU's recent security and defense partnerships with the United Kingdom and Canada," the EU summit conclusions state.
EU leaders, as indicated, will review progress on this at their meeting in October 2025 and "discuss the next steps in achieving their defense readiness goal." And called on the European Commission and the EU High Representative to present a roadmap to this end.