In one year, the EPP turned programmatic vision into reality

At a time marked by attempts to rebuild outdated empires, when force seems to prevail over diplomacy, the question of the role Europe must play is on everyone’s mind. Addressing this concern is clearly no easy task, and today, perhaps more than ever, it requires elected officials and leaders to present not only a real vision but also concrete action plans.

A year ago, Europeans gave us a clear mandate, sending 188 EPP Group Members to the European Parliament. Since then, we have not stopped working, launching new initiatives that strengthen people’s daily lives and make the EU more capable of meeting major challenges.

The first and essential point: Defence. In this area, we have taken giant steps. For the first time, under our impetus, the Commission appointed a Commissioner for Defence and presented the €800 billion ReArm Europe Programme, aimed at boosting our capabilities and supporting Ukraine. In addition, we have worked to reinforce cooperation and coordination between national armies and reduce market fragmentation, which weakens us. With the EDIP Programme, for instance, we are finally putting forward the possibility of strengthening European preference in military procurement. This is a major step forward, and we must go even further by providing flexibility and budgetary predictability to our companies, boosting private investment in this sector and creating a single market for defence. Moreover, looking ahead with a long-term vision, it is time to open the door to other ambitious projects, such as a joint and interoperable missile defence shield, joint satellite and drone programmes, or the creation of a “cyber-brigade” to fight online crime.

Strengthening Europe’s security also depends on full control of our external borders and on managing migration. Since 2015 and the unprecedented migration crisis, the EPP-led Commission has constantly proposed concrete solutions to address the urgency and consequences of this challenge. The final adoption of the Asylum and Migration Pact last year is the cornerstone of this long-term effort. Now, with the new Return Policy, we are going even further: faster and more harmonised procedures, mutual recognition of return decisions, and clearer obligations with tougher consequences. At the EPP Group, we welcome this proposal and are ready to enter tough negotiations with the other political groups in the European Parliament to finalise a text that is both firm and effective. Other proposals are in the pipeline, including the Regulation on Safe Countries of Origin and the revision of the Safe Third Country concept. Migration sovereignty requires firm solidarity between European states, and we are working on it every single day. Our actions are paying off: irregular border crossings into the European Union dropped by 20% in the first five months of 2025.

The third point, and perhaps the most advanced, is regulatory simplification. Bureaucracy costs Europe €150 billion per year – an excessive burden, felt most heavily by millions of businesses, especially SMEs. The EPP Group has been fighting this battle for years, and we are finally seeing results. The Commission has introduced a major regulatory simplification initiative (Omnibus), which aims to save €6 billion in direct costs. Symbolic of this harmful legislative inflation, the directive on sustainability reporting and the directive on corporate due diligence have now been suspended. We don’t abandon our values when it comes to sustainability; we make them work. The goal is to simplify, not weaken, Europe’s sustainability agenda. In this way, we also secured the suspension of the Green Claims Directive, a bureaucratic monster that, as it stood, would only have discouraged companies from engaging in sustainability efforts. On this subject, as on many others, the left has done nothing to help us. 

Closely linked to simplification, setting up a framework that supports competitiveness has been one of our top priorities in the early stages of this term. To lead this long-term task, the Clean Industrial Deal is our main tool. Far from being just a semantic evolution of the Green Deal, this new programme lays the foundations for a true Copernican revolution in the EU, placing industrial competitiveness at the centre of our policies for the first time.  This much-needed transformational business plan for energy-intensive industries and the clean-tech sector provides better access to capital and affordable energy, secures critical raw materials, and accelerates permitting procedures.  We have also worked to back the automotive industry by ensuring greater flexibility in meeting the 2025–2027 emission reduction targets, avoiding harmful fines while maintaining climate ambition, and by securing a review of the combustion engine ban, now scheduled for 2025. Additionally, competitiveness and SME checks will now be systematically included in the Commission’s impact assessments for all relevant legislative proposals. Business leaders keep telling us during our meetings, “Take us into account before proposing new laws.” We have heard them.

A party of workers, the EPP Group is also the party of farmers and fishers. Ensuring good living and working conditions for those who feed us and guarantee our food security is clear thinking. Under our leadership, the Commission has finally announced concrete measures in its vision for agriculture and food, including a Generational Renewal Strategy and a better alignment between EU production standards and those applied to imports. Thanks to simplification of the CAP, small farms will get special treatment, on-site inspections will be reduced, and rules on permanent grasslands will be more flexible. Reducing the paperwork that awaits a farmer each evening after a long day of work is a step forward, long requested by professionals and the EPP Group. We are delivering on it. In the area of fisheries and aquaculture as well, new measures are being introduced, particularly to help fund the modernisation of fishing fleets, especially artisanal fisheries. These efforts are at the heart of the Oceans Pact, which we played a major role in shaping.

This legislative mandate is a turning point. By the end of 2027, over 200 million Europeans will have voted, and many national elections will be crucial. The EU’s future truly hangs in the balance, and the real battle will not be between left and right, but between us and the extremes. The Union needs decisions. We need action. We need leadership that drives progress.

A year ago, the EPP Group made a promise: to build a Europe that is safe and secure for its citizens; that defends its borders and itself; that fosters competitiveness and cuts red tape; and that stands with its farmers and fishers to ensure healthy and affordable food. Europeans overwhelmingly backed that programme, giving us a clear mandate. In just one year, the EPP Group turned that programmatic vision step-by-step into European reality.

Note to editors

The EPP Group is the largest political group in the European Parliament with 188 Members from all EU Member States