European Union

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The Committee on Security and Defence sent a 6-Member delegation to Norway from 27-30 May 2025. The mission emphasised the need for strong EU-Norway Security and Defence cooperation to protect the North Atlantic from acts of aggression by Russia and other adversaries. This will become all the more critical with the effects of climate change, which are presenting new opportunities for the EU and NATO's adversaries to increase activity in the region.
The Committee on Security and Defence sent a 6-Member delegation to Norway from 27-30 May 2025. The mission emphasised the need for strong EU-Norway Security and Defence cooperation to protect the North Atlantic from acts of aggression by Russia and other adversaries. This will become all the more critical with the effects of climate change, which are presenting new opportunities for the EU and NATO's adversaries to increase activity in the region.
Press release
SEDE mission report including the programme
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

‘Funds for the CMA are limited, so resources must be used wisely,’ said Socialist MEP Tiemo Wölken

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Length of video : 90'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Next AFET committee meeting will be held on:

• Thursday 20 November, room ANTALL 4Q2, Brussels

Meetings are webstreamed with the exception of agenda items held "in camera".

AFET - DROI calendar of meetings 2025
AFET - DROI calendar of meetings 2026
Meeting documents
Webstreaming
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

After a Danish newspaper revived a once far-fetched proposal, the idea has since gained traction among Norwegian parties

The EU executive also wants to cut travel time and ensure train production stays in Europe

Written by Ralf Drachenberg and Annastiina Papunen with Diogo Vieira Ferreira.

‘Delivered on all fronts’ was the main message from European Council President António Costa on the results of the 23 October European Council meeting. On defence, the European Council defined a timeline and priorities for achieving EU defence readiness in 2030 – the more immediate priorities being air defence and Europe’s eastern flank. On competitiveness, EU leaders strongly pushed the simplification agenda, and stressed the need for a competitive and pragmatic green transition and for decisive progress towards EU digital sovereignty. On Ukraine, however, the outcome was mixed: even though EU leaders adopted the 19th sanctions package against Russia, and committed to covering Ukraine’s financial needs for 2026-2027, they failed to agree on methods for doing so, postponing a decision on the matter to December 2025. In addition to the three core topics, the European Council discussed housing for the first time, stressing the need to focus on European citizens’ daily concerns and to launch complementary initiatives at EU level to promote affordable housing.

1.   General

The day of the European Council meeting began with pre-summits of European political parties, as well as plurilateral meetings such as the Nordic-Baltic-Irish-Polish meeting. As usual, the formal meeting itself started with an address by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who updated EU leaders on developments in Parliament, notably on the rejection of the negotiation mandate for the sustainability omnibus package, and assured them that Parliament would deliver nevertheless.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob, who had to cancel his attendance due to illness, was represented by French President Emmanuel Macron. Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, who arrived late to the meeting due to a period of national mourning for the death of former Prime Minister Francisco Pinto Balsemão, was represented by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who also arrived late because of a national holiday commemorating the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, was represented by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

2.   European Council meeting Ukraine

The European Council conclusions only mention that EU leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine and had an exchange of views with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. For the fourth time, a separate text on Ukraine – ‘firmly supported’ by 26 Member States’, with Hungary refusing to endorse it – reiterates the ‘unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity’. The EU-26 pointed to Russia’s increased drone strikes targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, and urged a ‘full, unconditional and immediate ceasefire’, while repeating their support for ‘a comprehensive, just and lasting peace’ based on the principles of the UN Charter.

As Costa stated, the major focus was on Ukraine’s pressing financial needs for 2026-2027. EU leaders discussed at length the use of up to €140 billion of Russia’s immobilised assets for interest-free reparation loans to Ukraine, a plan backed by the UK and Canada. Belgium, which holds €183 billion of immobilised assets through Euroclear, sought guarantees on the mutualisation of the risks, but considered them insufficient, as no finalised proposal or legal basis for the use of these assets was provided. Thus, the Commission and the Council were asked to ‘work on the technical, legal and financial aspects of Europe’s support’, with a view to a decision at the December European Council meeting. The adopted text on Ukraine states that Russia’s assets ‘should remain immobilised until Russia ceases its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates it for the damage caused by its war’. Separately, EU leaders stressed the importance of a distinct €14 billion of funding from the G7 through the ERA initiative to ensure coordination and burden-sharing.

The second topic was military needs. Since a Ukraine that is capable of defending itself effectively is seen as an integral part of any future security guarantees, EU leaders also called on Member States to continue addressing these needs, including ‘air defence, anti-drone systems and large-calibre ammunition’. They welcomed the ongoing revisions of the mandates of EUAM (EU civilian advisory mission in Ukraine) and EUMAM (European Union Military Assistance Mission Ukraine) to include cyber-defence and ‘strengthening Ukraine’s combat power by investing €2 billion in drones’.

Thirdly, EU leaders reaffirmed the EU’s determination to increase pressure on Russia and to further damage its war machine. Thus, they welcomed the adoption of the 19th sanctions package, which targets Russia’s oil revenues, gas, banks and crypto-currencies. Despite Hungary and Slovakia’s continued imports, the former decided to drop its objections to the gas ban, while the latter, after initially considering vetoing the sanctions, ultimately supported the 19th package, with conditions.

Fourthly, the 26 Member States agreed to reinforce anti-circumvention measures and to coordinate action to disrupt Russia’s shadow fleet.

Main message of the EP President: The EU continues to stand with Ukraine, welcomes the adoption of the 19th package of sanctions, and supports proper use of Russian frozen assets.

Middle East

The European Council met a day after the inaugural EU-Egypt summit in Brussels, and hailed both the agreement on the initial phase of the peace plan between the Israelis and Palestinians proposed by US President Trump and the outcome of the Sharm El-Sheikh Summit for Peace. They welcomed the immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas and called for unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza. Costa confirmed that the EU ‘is fully committed to actively engage with all parties involved on the implementation of this Peace Plan’, while Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides stated that Cyprus was well-positioned to help in its implementation, notably with the Cyprus Maritime Corridor.

EU leaders also agreed that the EU missions EUBAM Rafah and EUPOL COPPS would be reinforced. Recalling previous conclusions, they called for de-escalation in the West Bank, notably in East Jerusalem, and an end to settler violence and to the expansion of illegal settlements, especially project E1. Moreover, the meeting reaffirmed the EU’s support for the Lebanese people and for the new government’s efforts to achieve stability, advocating a monopoly on weapons. On Syria, EU leaders emphasised a peaceful and inclusive political transition, free from foreign interference, guaranteeing the rights of Syrians from all ethnic and religious backgrounds, while ensuring reconstruction.

Main message of the EP President: The EU must be active to ensure stability in the Middle East, urging full implementation of the peace plan in Israel-Gaza, and avoid being ‘relegated to silence’.

European defence and security

As Costa emphasised after the meeting, the European Council reaffirmed its determination to ‘decisively ramp up Europe’s defence readiness by 2030’ and stressed the need for a 360 ° approach, allowing the EU to tackle both immediate as well as future threats, in full coherence with NATO. Condemning the violation of the airspace of several Member States, EU leaders stressed the importance of ensuring the defence of all EU land, air and maritime borders. With the Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030 as a building block, the European Council defined priorities and a timeline. Immediate priorities were set to tackle the EU’s most direct threats: i) anti-drone and air defence capabilities; and ii) the eastern flank. On the timeline, the European Council called on Member States to: 1) set up capability coalitions by the end of the year; and 2) advance on concrete projects to be launched in the first half of 2026, while implementing work on the priority areas at national level. Costa specified that ‘Member States will be in the driving seat to push our joint efforts forward’, and that the governance of and reporting on defence readiness would be increased, with ‘a bigger role for Ministers of defence’ and stronger involvement of the European Defence Agency.

The European Council also called on the Commission and the High Representative to put forward proposals to strengthen military mobility in the EU, and on the Commission to submit a roadmap for transforming the defence industry. On defence expenditure, it stressed that: i) Member States should orient their investment towards ‘joint development, production and procurement’; ii) an agreement should be found by the end of 2025 on the Defence Readiness Omnibus so as to simplify defence investment, while calling on the Commission to put forward ‘new proposals on simplification as soon as possible’; and iii) the European Investment Bank should ‘explore ways to finance industries and companies and help start-ups to scale up’ in the defence sector.

Competitiveness and the twin transition

Competitiveness was a central topic on the European Council agenda. EU leaders focused on three themes: i) simplification; ii) competitive green transition; and iii) sovereign digital transition. In a letter to EU leaders from 20 October, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined the challenges and possible solutions.

Simplification, seen as crucial for EU competitiveness, dominated the debate. Ahead of the meeting, 19 EU leaders sent a letter to Costa requesting ‘a systematic review of all EU regulations to identify rules that are superfluous, excessive or unbalanced’ and an examination of the entire EU acquis to see if the rules were still ‘fit for purpose’, and calling for a special meeting on competitiveness in February 2026. Against this backdrop, the European Council urged an ‘ambitious and horizontally driven simplification and better regulation agenda at all levels – European, national and regional’, thereby following the simplicity-by-design approach while avoiding the creation of new administrative burdens. Furthermore, EU leaders requested the General Affairs Council to assess the Commission’s new work programme ‘in the light of these objectives’.

Regarding the ongoing omnibus simplification packages, EU leaders requested the co-legislators to accelerate the work and to swiftly adopt the sustainability omnibus package. On the latter, Metsola assured them that, if a majority ‘from the centre out’ was not possible, Parliament would ‘deliver regardless’. EU leaders called for further simplification packages in other areas, and for a review of the REACH Regulation.

‘The competitive green transition’ heading highlighted a shift in the approach to green issues, now emphasising the competitiveness angle. EU leaders insisted on the ‘urgent need to intensify collective efforts to ensure Europe’s industrial renewal, modernisation and decarbonisation in a technologically neutral manner’, while lowering energy prices. Discussing the EU’s intermediate climate target for 2040 ahead of COP30 in Brazil, EU leaders tasked the Environment Council meeting of 4 November with finding a pragmatic compromise that takes into account the realistic contribution of carbon removals, the uncertainties of natural removals and adds a revision clause. China’s move to restrict rare earths exports and its economic dumping were also discussed, but no united approach was agreed.

Reiterating previous conclusions on the need to advance Europe’s digital transformation, EU leaders took note of recent initiatives on artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technology, calling for ambition. They discussed the protection of minors in the digital world, but did not set an age limit for the use of social media.

Housing

The high increase in house prices has created a pressing challenge across the EU, which Costa wanted EU leaders and the Tripartite Social Summit to discuss. As housing is a national competence, EU leaders considered possible support measures at EU level to complement national efforts, and asked the Commission to swiftly publish a European affordable housing plan.

Migration

Before the European Council meeting, 13 EU leaders met to discuss ‘innovative solutions’ on migration. The European Council itself spent little time on this topic, and it was not mentioned by either Costa or von der Leyen. The co-legislators were asked to ‘take work forward on relevant legislative proposals as a matter of priority’.

Moldova

As flagged up in the EPRS outlook, EU leaders addressed the elections in Moldova, pledging their support for the country’s resilience and stability. They reaffirmed the EU’s steadfast support for the Republic of Moldova on its accession path and welcomed the significant progress achieved so far.

Main message of the EP President: Roberta Metsola told EU leaders that ‘if we want to be ready for an enlarged European Union, we need to get serious about our own internal reforms’, hoping that Member States and institutions would finally have an ‘honest discussion on the topic’.

3.   Euro Summit

The Euro Summit, in inclusive format, discussed the current economic situation with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe. The summit statement reflects the topics raised by Donohoe in his letter to Costa (international role of the euro, digital euro, capital markets union, maintaining resilient public finances, and a stronger EU voice internationally).

Read this briefing on ‘Outcome of the meetings of EU leaders, 23 October 2025‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

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