A stronger Europe in the world

Enlargement: completing our European family

In the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, enlargement is more than ever a geostrategic investment in the long-term peace, stability and security of the whole of our continent. Only days after invasion, Ukraine applied formally to join the EU. The application was followed shortly by those of Moldova and Georgia. The Commission assessed those applications thoroughly in June 2022, and it recommended to EU Leaders that Ukraine and Moldova be granted EU candidacy status in November 2023.

The Commission recommended that the EU opens formal accession negotiations with both candidate countries, and that Georgia be given candidate status. 

In each case, the European Council has endorsed the Commission’s recommendations, and on 25 June 2024 accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova began, marking a historical step in EU integration.  

The plan also promotes economic integration within the region, and will support the financing of crucial reforms in the region thanks to a €6 billion facility. Accession is and will remain a merit-based process, fully dependent on the objective progress achieved by each country, starting with reforms in the fundamental areas, in line with the revised enlargement methodology.

Global Gateway: an ambitious world investment strategy

At the end of 2021, the Commission launched Global Gateway, the EU’s investment plan to boost smart, clean, and secure connections and infrastructure, and to strengthen health, education, and research systems across the world. Team Europe aims to mobilise up to €300 billion in public and private investments from 2021 to 2027. Over half of the total amount will be invested in Africa.

Global Gateway is our offer for high quality investment projects that respect high environmental and social standards, sound financial management, and the principles of openness and inclusiveness. The main aim is for projects to deliver lasting benefits and to bring added value for local communities in the form of jobs and growth. 

Global Gateway is already delivering with over almost 225 flagship projects being rolled out across the world. These investments take into account our partners’ as well as the EU’s interests in a geopolitical perspective.  

Within the framework of Global Gateway, strategic partnerships on raw materials were concluded with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Chile, and Argentina; and collaboration on renewable hydrogen includes Morocco, Mauritania, Egypt, Kenya, and Namibia. 

We are supporting 12 strategic corridors in Africa, including the Lobito corridor, which will link Angola, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and the MEDUSA digital submarine cable system linking the EU with North African countries with a length of 7,100 km. Additionally, €3.2 billion have been targeted to renewable energy projects that will benefit 100 million Africans by 2030. 

In Africa, Team Europe is also investing over €1.2 billion in local manufacturing of vaccines, medicines and health technologies. Capacities are being boosted in South Africa, Senegal, Rwanda, and Ghana, and at regional level with the African Medicines Agency, and the Partnership for Vaccine Manufacturing.

For example, in South Africa, we support the WHO’s first mRNA technology hub at Afrigen; and in Rwanda, we supported the establishment of an mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility. We are funding local manufacturing of mRNA vaccines in Africa, for the African people: a game changer in the fight against diseases and pandemics - not only COVID-19 but also tuberculosis, malaria, and potentially even cancer.

€10 billion will also be invested for the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, which will link Europe and Central Asia in 15 days. In the Western Balkans, it is already investing in flagship projects like the Trans-Balkan electricity corridor that will connect Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, €145 million are being invested in the Digital Alliance, including the land extension of the fibre-optic submarine Bella Cable, to enhance cooperation on research and innovation. And in Asia, our support includes solar and hydro power projects in Bhutan, and storage capacity of hydroelectricity in Nepal.

Leading the world in the fight against climate change and protection of the environment

The EU has provided consistent climate leadership during the last climate COPs.

• At the COP26 in 2021, President von der Leyen and President Biden launched the Global Methane Pledge, with the objective of reducing methane emissions at least 30% by 2030, in comparison to 2020 levels. Over 150 countries have signed up to the Pledge so far.
• At the COP27, in 2022, we played a pivotal role in the launch of a new fund for addressing loss and damage to support the countries most affected by the effects of climate change. The EU and its Member States have since pledged over €400 million to launch the fund.
• And at the COP28 in 2023, President von der Leyen launched the Global Pledge on Renewables and Energy Efficiency, with the aim of tripling installed capacity of renewable energy and doubling the rate of global energy efficiency improvements by 2030. The Pledge was supported by 118 countries at the high-level opening session of the COP and all Parties then signed up to it as part of the final negotiated outcome, which also included the first ever commitment at a COP to transition away from fossil fuels.

In order to support this ambitious pledge, in November 2024, President von der Leyen and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa launched, in the margins of the G20 Summit, the global campaign “Scaling up Renewables in Africa”, which will seek to drive new commitments on policy and finance from governments, financial institutions, the private sector and philanthropists to support the scale up renewable energy in Africa. These new commitments will build on the massive investments on renewable energy projects in Africa that are being carried out under the EU’s Global Gateway.

Meanwhile, at the COP15 on biodiversity, we spearheaded a global biodiversity agreement which sets global targets, for example for restoring and protecting ecosystems and reducing pesticides risks by half until 2030. We also led the conclusion of the UN High Seas Treaty, a global deal to protect biodiversity on the high seas. And we have been a driving force behind the March 2022 launch of negotiations on a new global treaty to combat plastic pollution.

Furthermore, we have partnered with like-minded countries such as Canada, Japan, Morocco, Norway, and the Republic of Korea, to conclude Green Alliances and Partnerships. These partnerships provide a comprehensive framework for cooperation as we strive for the same goals.

Likewise, together with our G7 partners, we have also launched Just Energy Transition Partnerships with South Africa, Senegal, Indonesia, and Vietnam, to support them in their transition to clean energy alternatives.

Showing Europe’s solidarity with the world during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Commission played a pivotal role in ensuring a global response to COVID-19. From the beginning we knew that the pandemic would not be over until it was not over in the whole world. Team Europe mobilised €53.7 billion to help partner countries deal with the immediate health emergency, to strengthen their healthcare, water and sanitation systems, and to mitigate the socio-economic consequences of the crisis.

The Commission joined forces with international partners to launch the Coronavirus Global Response, a pledging effort that gathered €15.9 billion in April 2020 to develop and deploy vaccines, tests and treatments for everyone.

Also in April 2020, President von der Leyen launched, along with the leaders of France, the WHO, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator initiative (ACT-Accelerator) to promote the development and equitable access by the whole world to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

At the heart of the ACT-Accelerator there was COVAX, a multilateral effort to bring vaccines to developing countries. The Commission contributed €400 million to the programme, and as Team Europe, we became the single largest donor of COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX. 

Furthermore, through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the Commission coordinated and co-financed deliveries of over 190 million medical and personal protective equipment items, including ventilators, for third countries. We coordinated the reinforcement of hospitals with essential additional medical staff, and we provided over 10.5 million vaccine doses to over 55 countries worldwide. All this was possible thanks to the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), the emergency hub of the European Union, which also responded to over 170 requests for assistance related to COVID-19.

Trade policy as a driver of EU prosperity and geopolitical influence

We have launched and continued negotiations towards future free trade agreements with key partners including India, Indonesia, Australia, Mercosur, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia. We have deepened cooperation with partners through innovative forms of engagement such as:

• the Trade and Technology Council with the US and India
• negotiations of digital trade agreements with the Republic of Korea and Singapore

Furthermore, we have prevailed in trade disputes in defence of European businesses, for example with Türkiye, over discriminatory measures against European pharmaceuticals, or with the South African Customs Union, over disproportionate measures on frozen poultry. 

This Commission has continued to work to stabilise the rules underpinning international trade by leading efforts to reform the World Trade Organization, including its dispute settlement mechanism.

Working for peace and justice in the Middle East

Revitalising EU-US relations and working together for common priorities

The Commission and President von der Leyen have worked hard to put EU-US relations back on track after a period marked by disagreements.

In December 2020, the Commission launched a New Transatlantic Agenda for Global Change with the aim of revitalising our partnership with the US in key areas such as dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19, climate change, technology, trade, and defending democracy and human rights across the world.

Today, our relationship with the US is stronger than ever before. President von der Leyen has built a close and strong partnership with President Biden, which has proven the basis for cooperation and coordination in different areas.  

Nowhere is this more noticeable than in our joint commitment to support Ukraine in its war against the Russian aggression. We have coordinated closely on sanctions against Russia, military supplies to Ukraine, keeping Russia accountable, and supporting President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula.

When Vladimir Putin tried to use gas supplies as a weapon against the EU, the US (along with others, such as Norway) became an important energy partner, allowing us to replace Russian gas with American LNG, a more secure and reliable alternative. In that sense we have advanced the EU-US Energy Council and Dialogue, and we established a new Task Force on Energy Security. 

When it comes to climate action and climate diplomacy, the EU and the US are committed to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and we have both set as a target achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Moreover, President von der Leyen and President Biden launched together the Global Methane Pledge at the COP26 in 2021. Since then, the Pledge has brought together 155 countries with the goal of reducing methane emissions by 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. 

Engaging with an increasingly assertive China in a frank and open way

For the EU, China is a partner for cooperation, an economic competitor, and a systemic rival. Managing our relation to the benefit of the EU and the world is one of our biggest challenges.

Over the past years, China has become more repressive at home, and more assertive abroad, resorting to economic coercion, boycotts of European goods, and export controls on critical raw materials. President von der Leyen has made it a priority to keep communication lines open in order to promote our values and defend our interests. She travelled to China twice in 2023 and she has maintained an open dialogue with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

While some may think decoupling from China is wise or doable, the Commission has set out its own strategy. In March 2023 President von der Leyen called for “de-risking” our relation, which means:

• reducing our economic overdependence on a single country
• working on more sustainable supply chains
• boosting the competitiveness and productivity of our own industry

We are securing our supplies through the Critical Raw Materials Act. We have put in place measures to address security concerns, whether on 5G, Foreign Direct Investment, export controls, or to counter economic distortions and deter economic coercion. We have shown our determination to level the playing field between us. In 2023, the Commission announced the launch of an investigation into possible unfair subsidisation of electric vehicles produced in China and sold in the EU, and in October 2024, the Commission imposed definitive countervailing duties on imports of battery EVs months for a period of five years. At the same time, EU and China continue to work towards finding alternative, WTO-compatible solutions that would address the problems identified by the investigation. The Commission also remains open to negotiating price undertakings with individual exporters, as is permitted under EU and WTO rules.

Moreover, we have consistently spoken out about the deteriorating human rights situation in China, be it in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Tibet, or elsewhere. In that sense, in March 2021, the EU listed four individuals and one entity in China responsible for the systematic use of forced labour, arbitrary detentions, violations of freedom of religion or belief against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, under its new EU Global Human Rights sanctions regime. We also relaunched the EU-China human rights dialogue, after it was suspended in 2019. 

At the same time, we have worked with China to find solutions to global challenges such as climate change. China accounts for 28% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and it is therefore an essential partner in achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement. In fact, China has set up its own Emissions Trading System to put a price on carbon, with extensive technical support from the Commission.   

Responding to crises around the world and supporting partners in need

The Commission has remained at the forefront of saving lives and getting aid to people caught up in crises worldwide. In the last years, we have developed some major initiatives, including:   

• Establishing across Europe rescEU medical stockpiles, containing crucial equipment such as ventilators, personal protective equipment, and medicines, as well as the potential to deploy field hospitals during crises. 
• Establishing rescEU chemical, radio nuclear and biological equipment stockpiles. 
• Launching EU Humanitarian Aid Bridge flights to channel aid to the most difficult to reach areas. These Air Bridge flights have proven a lifeline to channel aid to Ethiopia during the Tigray crisis, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as to delivering assistance to the people of Gaza more recently. 
• Developing the rescEU forest firefighting air fleet, hosted across EU Member States, to better respond to forest fire emergencies across Europe, such as in Greece in the summer of 2023. That operation became the largest ever rescEU firefighting operation. In anticipation of the 2024 wildfire season, the EU has increased its readiness by further expanding its fleet of firefighting airplanes and strategically prepositioning firefighters across the EU.  
• Developing global stockpiles of aid – the European Humanitarian Response Capacity – hosted in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe to be able to send aid faster to crises zones, such as in the aftermath of the Türkiye-Syria earthquake in 2023. 

In the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine, we have organised for Ukraine the largest ever operation of the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism, setting up logistical hubs to deliver over 152,000 tonnes of aid, as well as enabling the evacuation of over 3,800 wounded and critically ill Ukrainian patients to hospitals across Europe.

Also through the Mechanism, we repatriated over 100,000 people back to Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing Europeans and their families back home.

This mandate, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated over 400 times, showing the power of EU solidarity anywhere help is needed. 

Strengthening our bilateral and regional engagements around the world 

In 2023, President von der Leyen became the first Commission President ever to visit the Philippines and strengthened our relationship with a strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific.

In Central Asia, we negotiated new-generation Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreements (EPCAs) with individual countries, and we boosted cooperation on the digital, transport and water/energy nexus. This work led to the endorsement of a Joint Roadmap for Deepening Ties between the EU and Central Asia in 2023.

Fighting for human rights around the world

With the creation of the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime in December 2020, the EU has signalled its determination to stand up for human rights worldwide and to take action against those responsible for serious human rights violations. 

Since its adoption, the EU has listed over 110 individuals and over 30 entities for serious human rights violations or abuses linked to Afghanistan, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Syria. 

Human rights are a fundamental part of our discussions with third countries. The EU has launched new frameworks for dialogue focused on human rights with Saudi Arabia and Oman, and we resumed dialogues with India, Israel and China. 

Defending Europe 

At a time when war has returned to Europe, the Commission has taken bold steps towards a European Defence Union – to ensure that the EU is prepared for all scenarios – from traditional to hybrid, be it on land, at sea, in the air, in outer space or cyberspace. 

The European Defence Fund has been complemented by the European defence industry reinforcement through common procurement act (EDIRPA), and by the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP).

• ASAP will provide €500 million to support 31 investment projects with the objective of ramping-up ammunition production in the EU to two million per year by the end of 2025. The selected projects cover five areas: explosives, powder, shells, missiles, and testing and reconditioning certification They are expected to leverage additional industry investment to reach a total of about €1.4 billion.
• EDIRPA, with its budget of €310 million, will incentivise Member States to jointly procure urgently needed defence products, while improving interoperability among Member States, and facilitating the integration of a European defence market. The first calls for proposals were launched in March 2024.

This Commission also laid out a European Space Strategy for Security and Defence that will help protect our space assets, deter hostile activities in space and strengthen its strategic posture and autonomy; and also a revised EU Maritime Security Strategy, that protects our interests at sea, where 80% of global trade transits.

Furthermore, a new outlook on the climate and security nexus proposes measures to factor in the reality of climate change into Member States’ civilian and military planning, capabilities and infrastructure.

At the same time, we have expanded our cooperation with NATO on hybrid threats, cyber, terrorism, and the security implications of climate change with a new joint declaration and launched the EU-NATO Task Force on resilience of critical infrastructure to better prevent disruptions to essential services to citizens and support our economies. In October 2024, President von der Leyen and the new Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, agreed to set up a new high-level task force to strengthen the existing EU-NATO cooperation.

Achievements in other areas