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(As delivered)

Good afternoon.

I am looking forward to meeting the European leaders today especially on a day like this because this is an important day for European defence. And I have welcomed a stronger European defence. I welcome the initiative to strengthen European defence because I believe that will be good for the European Union, for Europe and for NATO.

It can provide more capabilities, more defence spending and fairer burden sharing. But to be sure that we are able to fulfil this potential we have to focus on especially 3 things.

First, there has to be coherence between capability developments of NATO and the EU. We cannot risk ending up with conflicting requirements from EU and from NATO to the same nations.

The second, forces and capabilities developed under EU initiatives have to be available also for NATO because we only have one set of forces.

And thirdly we need the fullest possible involvement of non-EU Allies because they are key to European security. We have to remember that after Brexit next year 80% of NATO’s defence expenditures will come from non-EU Allies and that just highlights the importance of complementarity and not competition between NATO and the EU.

It also highlights the importance of strengthening EU-NATO cooperation. I welcome that we have been able to bring NATO-EU cooperation to a new level. And we have agreed on many measures, on hybrid, on cyber, on maritime operations, on Women, Peace and Security, fighting terrorism and many other areas. And I look forward to strengthening this cooperation and President Junker and President Tusk and I have agreed that we will sign a new declaration on NATO-EU cooperation next July on the margins of the NATO Summit.

Q – Secretary General, doesn’t Brexit actually weaken the European Union and NATO security provided the budget they spend in it?

A – Brexit will change Britain’s relationship to the European Union, but Brexit will not change the UK’s relationship to NATO. The UK has, again and again, underlined that it will stay in NATO as a committed Ally, and the UK is very important for NATO because, next to the United States, the United Kingdom has the biggest defence budget and is providing key capabilities to NATO and to European security. For me, Brexit just highlights the importance of stronger NATO-EU cooperation, and therefore I welcome that we have been able to lift NATO-EU cooperation up to a new level.

Q – What will change in NATO when there will be a European Defence Force? Will that change the function of NATO?

A – It has been clearly stated from the European leaders, from both the Prime Minister, President, but also from the EU leaders here in Brussels, that stronger European defence is not about establishing competing structures. It’s not about duplicating what NATO is doing. It’s not about competing with NATO. The aim is to complement NATO, and that is extremely important because NATO is key for European defence. We know that 80% of defence spending will be from non-EU Allies, and 3 of the 4 battlegroups we have in the eastern part of the Alliance are led by non-EU Allies.