Written by Annastiina Papunen and Rebecca Zamponi.
With the geopolitical situation evolving rapidly in the first months of 2025, EU leaders had already convened three times in advance of their regular March meeting. Next to competitiveness – originally due to be the central focus point – the spring European Council meeting covered issues including Ukraine, the Middle East and European defence. On competitiveness, the EU-27 outlined precise directions to accelerate the EU’s economic agenda, focusing on three priorities: cutting red tape, ensuring affordable energy and turning savings into investments. Following Hungary’s renewed refusal to agree to conclusions on Ukraine, a separate statement, ‘firmly supported by 26 Heads of State or Government’, was published, emphasising the EU’s commitment to provide further comprehensive support to Ukraine and to contribute to security guarantees.
As European Council President António Costa intended, the meeting concluded in one day. It started with the customary speech by Parliament’s President, Roberta Metsola, who told EU leaders that Europe had ‘thrived on soft power’ for decades, but with the global order now changing, ‘Europe must position itself as a force to be reckoned with’. This requires ‘getting serious about our security, our readiness and our competitiveness’. There was a working lunch with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, and an exchange of views with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In the afternoon, a Euro Summit in inclusive format took place in the presence of European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe. Over dinner, EU leaders held a first discussion on the next long-term EU budget and own resources.
1. Euro Summit
The Euro Summit discussed: 1) the economic outlook, 2) macroeconomic coordination, 3) the savings and investment union, and 4) the digital euro. As earlier that day in the monetary dialogue with the Parliament, Christine Lagarde stressed that, despite strong challenges in recent years, EU economies had shown significant resilience. However, growth estimates have been revised down to 0.9 % in 2025 and 1.2 % in 2026, due to lower export and investment projections. The leaders’ statement takes note of the Eurogroup President’s letter emphasising the urgency of advancing on the capital markets union (CMU) to enable business to access investment financing, and asked Donohoe to keep the Euro Summit informed of progress on the CMU and digital euro.
2. European Council meeting
Ukraine
For the second time in a row, 26 Member States ‘firmly supported’ conclusions on Ukraine, with Hungary withholding its approval. President Costa commented that, while the majority can respect that Hungary has a different position, the EU should not be blocked by one Member State. The Swedish Prime Minister was more direct, stating ‘The simple conclusion is that we are right, and Hungary is wrong’. Interestingly, the wording of the EU-26 conclusions refers to the European Council and the EU, not to the ‘EU-26’. Discussion focused on four areas: peace, support for Ukraine, Russia, and Ukraine’s European future. As anticipated, the European Council welcomed the Ukraine–US joint statement following their meeting in Saudi Arabia on 11 March 2025. However, with peace negotiations continuing in Saudi Arabia, and thus far excluding European states, the conclusions underline the EU’s and Member States’ readiness to participate in the peace process, ‘in the interest of both Ukraine and Europe as a whole’. The European Council reiterated the principles, outlined on 6 March 2025, which should guide negotiations towards a ‘comprehensive, just and lasting peace’. It also called directly on Russia to show genuine will to end the war, including through humanitarian efforts such as exchanging prisoners of war, releasing civilians and returning all forcibly displaced Ukrainian children and unlawfully deported civilians. It is estimated that Russian authorities have forcibly displaced more than 19 500 Ukrainian children, with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant resulting for Putin. Furthermore, EU leaders called for ‘robust and credible’ security guarantees for Ukraine, to which the EU and its Member States are ready to contribute. Possible options were discussed by representatives from more than 30 countries at recent meetings in Paris and London. Whilst French President Emmanuel Macron has also put forward the possibility of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is against this option. A meeting on security guarantees for Ukraine is planned on 27 March 2025.
EU leaders committed to continuing to provide regular and predictable financial support to Ukraine. Concretely, the European Commission was asked to frontload financing from the Ukraine Facility and the G7 ERA initiative (loans for Ukraine repaid by profits from frozen Russian assets), and urged – together with the Member States – to use the Ukraine Facility to increase financial support. Moreover, EU leaders reiterated their support for Ukraine’s repair, recovery and reconstruction, noting the importance of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in July 2025. Military support, especially in light of the change in the US government, is a key component. The EU-26 maintained their ‘peace through strength’ approach, which entails putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position to deter Russia, with robust military and defence capabilities. In that context, they called on Member States to urgently increase efforts to address Ukraine’s most urgent military and defence needs. EU leaders also welcomed the resumption of US military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
On Russia, the EU leaders reaffirmed the EU’s readiness to increase pressure on Russia, for example through further sanctions, by strengthening the enforcement of current sanctions and avoiding their circumvention to limit Russia’s ability to wage its war. They also agreed that Russian assets subject to EU law should remain frozen until the war is over and Ukraine has been compensated for the damage caused. The European Council reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring those responsible for the war and the crimes committed are held accountable. It also welcomed progress on establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine in the Council of Europe.
As regards Ukraine’s future in the EU, EU leaders stressed Ukraine’s right to choose its destiny, and committed to intensifying EU support for Ukraine’s reform efforts on its path towards membership.
Middle East
Following Israeli air strikes in Gaza, and the large number of civilian deaths, the European Council deplored the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza, and Hamas’s refusal to return the remaining hostages held since 7 October 2023. EU leaders called for both sides to return to the ceasefire-hostage release agreement in place since January 2025, and for progress towards the second phase of the agreement, leading to the return of all hostages and a lasting end to hostilities. They reiterated the importance of unhampered and continued humanitarian assistance, the resumption of water desalination plants and electricity supply throughout Gaza. The European Council underlined once again its firm commitment to a lasting and sustainable peace based on the two-state solution, with the EU ready to contribute to all efforts in this regard. It also welcomed the Arab Recovery and Reconstruction Plan for Gaza, presented at the Cairo Summit on 4 March 2025. The Irish Taoiseach, and foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom welcomed the plan.
Regarding Syria, where violent clashes between Syrian Caretaker Authority forces and groupings loyal to the Assad regime have recently erupted, the European Council condemned the violence against civilians and urged the transitional authorities to ensure the safety of all civilians, whilst holding the perpetrators of the violence accountable. Furthermore, EU leaders underscored the importance of a peaceful and inclusive transition, with the rights of all Syrians protected (without discrimination), Syria’s territorial integrity and independence fully respected, and without detrimental foreign intervention. The EU leaders welcomed the agreement between the transitional authorities and the Syrian Democratic Forces, to which France contributed, and the outcome of the ninth Syria Conference ‘Standing with Syria: meeting the needs for a successful transition’.
The European Council welcomed the end of the political stalemate in Lebanon – with the election of a new president, Joseph Aoun, in January and the formation of a new government after two years of impasse – and stated the EU’s readiness to work with the new authorities to stabilise the country.
Defence
Although not on the Leaders’ Agenda for March, defence was a central topic from the outset. The meeting was preceded by an informal retreat dedicated to defence on 3 February 2025; discussions at the special meeting on 6 March; and presentation of the white paper on ‘European defence readiness 2030’ on 19 March. On 6 March, EU leaders identified a list of priority areas for EU-level action in the field of capabilities; and at the 20 March meeting, they requested that work begin as a matter of urgency. During the meeting, EU leaders agreed that work on all aspects of the EU’s defence readiness should be boosted within the next five years. In that context, the European Council called for the co-legislators to progress quickly on recent Commission proposals, and to continue work on financing EU defence. The leaders tasked the Commission and the High Representative with reporting regularly on progress made in the implementation of its conclusions on defence, and will return to the issue at their meeting in June 2025. EU leaders generally reacted positively to the white paper, however a number of EU leaders called for more. President Macron underlined the consensus on increased defence spending, but also noted the lack of unanimity on common joint debt for defence, which he considers unavoidable.
Competitiveness
Competitiveness has been a recurrent topic on the European Council agenda in recent years, with the April 2024 special meeting and the Budapest declaration of November 2024 on the ‘new competitiveness deal’ focusing on the issue. Ahead of the meeting, President Costa stated that the competitiveness deliberations would revolve around three topics: 1) simplification, 2) energy and 3) the savings and investment union. The 20 March 2025 conclusions reflect these priorities, setting, according to President Costa: ‘clear targets, clear tasks and clear timelines’. President Costa further stated: ‘Through the reduction of bureaucracy by 25 % for all companies and 35 % for SMEs, we will make it easier for all companies in our economic space. Through measures to reduce energy prices, we will help companies be more competitive. Through the integration of our financial markets, businesses and citizens will get the funding for innovative companies’. Similarly, Parliament’s President, Roberta Metsola stressed that the EU needed to be ‘serious on competitiveness’, regretting that, although Europe had the capital and the talent, those assets were not being invested in Europe. She also mentioned the Commission’s savings and investment union strategy, published ahead of the meeting; whilst considering the strategy a good step forward, she nevertheless indicated that Europe actually needs ‘giant leaps’ today.
As part of the effort to improve EU competitiveness, EU leaders reiterated their request for a new horizontal strategy for a modernised EU single market by June 2025. The request was originally made in April 2024 after the publication of ‘Much more than a market‘, the report by former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, the origin of which is linked to the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the single market in 2023. EU leaders want the new single market strategy to contribute to: 1) removing remaining barriers, especially in services and essential goods; 2) addressing fragmentation; and 3) improving the application and enforcement of single market rules.
During the meeting, EU leaders looked at the specific situation of industries which have been struggling lately, such as the automotive and energy-intensive industries, notably the steel sector. A strategic dialogue with and an action plan for the car manufacturing sector have already been launched. EU leaders therefore asked the Commission to put forward ‘without delay, a targeted proposal for additional flexibilities to the 2025 milestone under the regulation setting CO2 emissions performance standards for cars and vans, and to take forward the review foreseen in this regulation’. The possible relaxation of the rules has already been discussed in some countries.
Following the 19 March 2025 Social Summit, EU leaders underlined the need to make more effort, in line with the European Pillar of Social Rights, to empower people across Europe and enable better jobs by facilitating the skilling and up-skilling of the EU’s human capital. As President Costa noted, the summit discussed: ‘prosperity, sustainability and fairness’. Finally, EU leaders discussed the 2025 European Semester priorities and endorsed the euro-area economic policy recommendations.
Next multiannual financial framework (MFF)
EU leaders had a first exchange of views on the next MFF and on new own resources. This first exploratory discussion was probably less decisive than similar initial discussions in the past. However, as President Macron stated, the size of and priorities for the next MFF will have to be fully reviewed. Moreover, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reported that EU leaders acknowledged the need to decide on new own resources before being able to discuss the next MFF. President Metsola stressed that: ‘The next MFF must match what matters to people most’, notably prosperity, what makes peoples’ life easier and fairer, and investment in security and defence. Members of the European Parliament ‘need to be fully involved at each stage of the process’.
Migration
EU leaders reviewed the implementation of previous conclusions on migration, outlining the main aspects requiring further work on the external dimension of migration. The European Council called on the co-legislators to make progress – as a matter of priority – on migration related files, more specifically inviting them to ‘swiftly examine the recent Commission proposal on returns’.
Oceans
EU leaders stressed the ‘strategic importance of the oceans, water resilience and the blue economy’ and welcomed the Commission’s plans to put forward an ‘ambitious and holistic European Oceans Pact. With a view to the United Nations Ocean Conference in June 2025 in Nice, they also called for accelerated ratification of the Marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement (‘Treaty of the High Seas’) to ensure ocean protection and governance.
External relations
In the context of increased challenges to international law and global trade rules, the European Council reiterated its commitment to multilateralism and to the rules-based international order, with the United Nations at its core. It also underlined its commitment to the Pact for the Future, and welcomed the prospect of working on the UN80 initiative, a UN reform process. In an uncertain geopolitical environment, EU leaders stressed that the EU is a reliable and predictable partner
Read the complete briefing on ‘Outcome of the meetings of EU leaders on 20 March 2025‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.
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