Thank you very much, and also from my side, my dear Nicos, thank you very much for welcoming us here in Cyprus. You said your country is the bridge.

Into the Mediterranean and the Middle East,

and indeed we could see today that this is the place where the Middle East meets the European Union. So thank you very much for that.

Experience and your Presidency could not have been more timely than now.

António said, rightly so,

we discussed the impact of the crisis on our economy and here mainly the topic of energy.

After 54 days of conflict in the Middle East, the impact is tangible. Let me give you a figure.

Since the beginning of this conflict, our bill for imported fossil fuels has increased by over EUR €25 billion without a single molecule of energy in addition,

€25 billion for 54 days. In addition, an increase of our bill.

Therefore, the mid term strategy that we have been discussing in the last weeks and months is very clear.

We need to reduce our over dependency on imported fossil fuels, because these make us vulnerable to crises, and we need to boost our homegrown,

affordable, clean energy sources, that is all sorts of renewables and, of course, as a base load, nuclear.

Both energy sources give us independence, they give us stability,

they are produced here in the European Union and they are cheaper.

On the immediate measures that we proposed, I want to make first of all,

a general remark the energy mix in every Member State is different.

This is the reason why we have not presented something one size fits all,

but a toolbox for the different situations in the different Member States.

First, support must be targeted to those who need it most.

That is the lesson learned from the energy crisis in 2022 when Russia cut us off the gas.

It must be temporary, so with a clear end date, and above all,

it must be coordinated across Europe for maximum impact.

We will apply the same mindset when it comes to fuel reserves,

especially jet fuel and diesel, where markets are tightening.

The 2nd lesson learned is that our immediate action should lead to lasting effects.

So this goes back indeed to the fact of how we are going to change our energy supply over time.

For that, you must know that the overall energy supply,

3/3 of the energy supply is fossil fuels.

Electricity represents 25% of the energy supply, one quarter of our final energy consumption.

This 25% is lower than is the case, for example, in the United States or in China,

so this must and this will change, and that is why we will accelerate the electrification of our union.

By the summer we will present the electrification action plan with an ambitious target.

Because the overall message of the day yesterday's discussions was that we must move towards clean and home grown energy,

this is not only a matter of affordability, but also of economic security and independence.

Turning to our competitiveness agenda, indeed this morning, the three of us, the Presidency of the Council, Dear Nikos,

the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and I,

as President of the European Commission, we signed the One Europe, One Market roadmap. Finally, it's agreed.

It's excellent because it's a joint political vision for the completion of the single market by the end of 2027,

as you said, with very clear milestones and targeted, very transparent, everybody can follow up.

So there is also our collective pressure on speed to move forward with the implementation and the legislative processes.

We have 5 key drivers of prosperity in this roadmap.

The first is simplifying rules to make it easier for companies to thrive in Europe.

The second is removing all barriers that hamper smooth cross-border business and investment.

The 3rd element is that we champion strong trade,

and we already have a strong track record here in free trade agreements.

The 4th topic is what I just talked about reducing energy prices and decarbonising,

as we just discussed, and the 5th element is driving the digital and AI transformation.

So in many ways, signing this roadmap was hard work to get there, but this is not the end,

but it's the start of even better and more and hard work to deliver. Finally, on the next MFF. Indeed, we discussed it this morning.

The next EU budget is central to our competitiveness agenda because it can de-risk investment and crowd in private capital. If you take InvestEU. InvestEU has or had EUR 26 billion.

As guarantees, this triggered 300 billion of private investment,

so this function of the EU budget is a very important one.

By the budget we can fund strategic priorities at a real European scale,

and it can support reforms that make Europe a better place to invest.

All this is in the proposal of the next MFF for the next MFF,

but what we discussed today is that we must be very lucid about the budgetary equation, as we call it.

First of all, from 2028 onwards,

the European Union will start repaying Next Generation EU. That's one obligation.

Then we need to invest more in our so called new priorities.

This is the European competitiveness, it is AI, it is quantum,

defense, security, energy, you know the topics, the new priorities.

The 3rd point is of importance that we want to sustain funding for the European Union's longstanding priorities.

This is the common agricultural policy and cohesion.

Of course, we want to keep the national contributions in check.

We want all 4 elements to be respected. Then there's only one solution. New own resources are indispensable.

We need new own resources, and that was the discussion that we had today.

I presented the different elements of the package of the new own resources without them. The choice is stark.

It's either higher national contributions or it's lower spending capacity.

That's the only options that are out there.

In other words, lower spending capacities would mean less Europe exactly when more Europe is needed.

This is why the Commission proposed a comprehensive package of new own resources, a package that is diversified,

linked to the Union policies and capable of generating stable revenues over time.

We think this is the only credible way to match Europe's priorities and Europe's needs.

Indeed, to conclude, Nicos,

we began a discussion timely and necessary on the mutual defense clause.

The Treaty is very clear about the what?

And it's very strong that there is an obligation for other Member States to support the one who is in need.

The Treaty is not clear about what happens when and who does what.

This is the topic we are working on intensively today, not only we have discussed it today,

but we are working on that topic together with the High Representative and the Commissioner for Defence.

We have a very good example with the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, since 20 years in place.

The Member States know exactly how to trigger. Everyone knows one's responsibilities and duties. A cascade is triggered. And it is working very effectively.

There's a second element that we started to discuss, that is what is the period before the mutual defense clause.

So this period is the gray zone of hybrid attacks, of cyberattacks, of disinformation, of manipulation.

This is a very important period because this has to create the awareness with the Member States that something is developing, and at best,

it is a time where you can work to prevent an escalation to an armed conflict and to de escalate.

Also this part of the equation we have been starting to discuss,

but there is certainly a long way still to go to complete the picture. Thank you.