We, the Leaders of the European Union, have gathered in Granada to mark the start of the process to define the Union’s general political directions and priorities for the years to come, setting a strategic course of action to shape our common future for the benefit of all. We reiterate the original promise of the European project to ensure peace, stability and prosperity for our citizens, guided by our values and principles, fundamental rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The Strategic Agenda agreed in June 2019 has been our guide for action.
The pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have tested our resilience, highlighting the need for the Union to enhance its sovereignty and leading us to take major decisions to protect our people and our economies. Following our meeting in Versailles, we have acted decisively. Threatened with energy blackmail, we have greatly reduced our dependencies and diversified our sources. Faced with tightening supply chains and international competition, we have strengthened our economic base. Resolved to take more responsibility for our own security and defence and to assist Ukraine, we have bolstered Europe’s capabilities. We will continue to support Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes. We have also confirmed that the future of our aspiring members and their citizens lies within the European Union. More needs to be done.
Today in Granada, we have discussed key priorities and actions needed for a strong, dynamic, competitive and cohesive Europe in a changing world. Building on the Strategic Compass for Security and Defence, we will strengthen our defence readiness and invest in capabilities by developing our technological and industrial base. We will also focus on military mobility, on resilience in space and on countering cyber and hybrid threats and foreign information manipulation throughout the Union. The Russian war of aggression has also further highlighted the strength of the transatlantic relationship.
We will work on our resilience and our global long-term competitiveness, making sure that the EU has all the necessary tools to secure sustainable and inclusive growth and global leadership in this crucial decade. We will address vulnerabilities and strengthen our crisis preparedness, not least in the context of growing climate and environmental risks and geopolitical tensions. We will anticipate potential challenges and seize the opportunities for our Union in the green and digital transitions, in order to ensure the sustainability of our economic model, leaving no one behind. We will concentrate particularly on energy and resource efficiency, circularity, decarbonisation, resilience to natural disasters and adaptation to climate change. We will continue our efforts to build a more cohesive, innovation-driven, and interconnected Single Market, preserving its integrity, its four freedoms, its social dimension and its openness, ensuring a level playing field, and reducing administrative burden notably for SMEs.
We will ensure access to affordable energy, increase our energy sovereignty and reduce external dependencies in other key areas where the EU needs to build a sufficient level of capacity to guarantee its economic and social welfare, such as digital and net-zero technologies, critical medicines and raw materials, as well as sustainable agriculture. We will invest in research and education and the skills of the future and address demographic challenges. We will strengthen our position as an industrial, technological and commercial powerhouse, putting a special focus on areas of high added value where we already have a competitive edge or can become a frontrunner.
We will step up engagement with partners from all regions of the world to protect and enhance the rules-based international order with the United Nations at its core, bring more fairness into the multilateral system, and prevent its further fragmentation. We will mobilise and develop our external action instruments. It is now more important than ever to cooperate on strengthening and diversifying our supply chains, fostering partnership, trade and investment agreements, promoting sustainable development to meet our agreed goals towards net-zero emissions, and enhancing health emergency preparedness. This work also requires reinvigorating global trade, in which the WTO plays a fundamental role. Enlargement is a geo-strategic investment in peace, security, stability and prosperity.
It is a driver for improving the economic and social conditions of European citizens, reducing disparities between countries, and must foster the values on which the Union is founded. Looking ahead to the prospect of a further enlarged Union, both the EU and future Member States need to be ready. Aspiring members need to step up their reform efforts, notably in the area of rule of law, in line with the merit-based nature of the accession process and with the assistance of the EU. In parallel, the Union needs to lay the necessary internal groundwork and reforms. We will set our long-term ambitions and the ways to achieve them. We will address key questions related to our priorities and policies as well as our capacity to act. This will make the EU stronger and will enhance European sovereignty.
The European Council will continue discussions on the future priorities of our Union in the coming months ahead of the adoption of the Strategic Agenda next year.
