Federal Chancellor’s press conference after the European Council meeting
In his press conference following the European Council meeting in Brussels, Federal Chancellor Scholz assured Ukraine of the European Union’s support. He also highlighted competitiveness as “a key challenge for the future of Europe”.
- Transcript of press conference
- Thursday, 20 March 2025
At his press conference after the European Council meeting, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke about the results of the discussions held in Brussels.
Photo: Federal Government/Ronny Hartmann
The discussions during the European Council meeting that took place in Brussels on Thursday focused on a further increase in financial and military support for Ukraine. The heads of state and government also discussed how Europe’s own security and defence could be improved, along with European competitiveness.
The key points from the statement
- Support for Ukraine: Federal Chancellor Scholz stressed that 26 member states had once more confirmed their support for Ukraine: “We stand side by side with Ukraine.” This was why the European Council had reconfirmed ongoing military and financial support for Ukraine, he said. Scholz welcomed President Zelensky’s suggestion of a thirty-day ceasefire with regard to energy infrastructure and described it as an opportunity and basis for Ukraine’s further perspective, adding that the prospect of EU membership had to remain available to Ukraine as a democratic, sovereign state.
- Boosting Europe’s defence capability: The Federal Chancellor highlighted the importance of “all of us spending more on defence”. At 90 billion euros, Germany is the EU country that invests the greatest amount in its defence. It was, however, “a difficult task” to maintain this level over the next few years, Federal Chancellor Scholz stated. Changing the Basic Law was therefore a good basis for “enabling us to spend more money on defence and infrastructure investment”.
- Boosting competitiveness: The Federal Chancellor also stressed that these words needed to be turned into practical politics, and that cutting red tape and simplifying European rules were top priorities here. Scholz believes that a capital market union should be at the core of successful European competition policy. It had to become easier to invest private wealth in projects, companies and ideas, Federal Chancellor Scholz said. He pointed out that we had to “eliminate all restrictions that prevent the large amount of money that exists in Europe from being invested in our economy’s growth”.
Read a transcript of the press conference here (only german):