[As delivered]

Excellencies,

I would like to start by thanking Commissioner Serafin and the Director-General for Budget, Stéphanie Riso, for this very nice invitation.

We meet at an inflection point for Europe’s role in the world.

The Commission has put forward an ambitious proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

It pivots on a recognition that Europe’s future prosperity, security, and influence are inseparable from its engagement with the wider world.

That, at a time of fiscal pressure, geopolitical uncertainty and competing demands on public resources, really shows that ambition matters.

Now, having said that, comes the difficult part.

We know that as negotiations advance, external action will have to compete with other priorities.

And we know very well, looking at the past, that development spending is very often the first item where savings are being sought.

However, the case I want to advocate here today is that there is no clear line of separation between what happens inside Europe and what happens beyond it.

Countries can choose to trade less, but they cannot choose to share less atmosphere or fewer pathogens.

If we look at what has happened over the past years, they cannot insulate themselves from financial contagion when the foreign financial system breaks.

They cannot escape the spillover effects of conflict.

Or the ravages of climate change.

That interdependence is something that especially we, Europeans, live on a daily basis.

These are what they call shared risks – but they are also shared opportunities.

Europe’s external environment increasingly shapes its competitiveness, prosperity, and security.

That is why the debate you are having here is way more than a debate on budget headings.

It is about whether Europe sees external action as a strategic investment.

External action is not just discretionary spending that you can decide on a yes or no; it is really a discussion of strategic investments.

The Commission’s proposal really reflects this choice by seeing it as a strategic investment.

It builds upon decades of European leadership on the global stage.

The EU and its Member States have consistently shown that investing through the United Nations strengthens peace, prosperity and resilience.

I would like to thank the European Commission and Member States for your enduring trust and steadfast support.

At a moment when the EU is focused on security, defence, competitiveness and resilience - development is the strategy to secure them.

Defence without partnerships is very expensive.

Competitiveness without stable markets is precarious.

Resilience without trusted partners turns out to be extremely fragile.

Development is the foundation for a stable and prosperous world – for developing countries, but also that is the main element I want to put forward for Europe itself.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent our collective commitment to a stable world.

As G7 leaders recently affirmed, Official Development Assistance (ODA) remains an “indispensable” catalyst to reach these goals.

Public finance reaches those places that private capital cannot.

It funds the critical early recovery that gets communities back on their feet after a shock.

Take, for example, the dramatic events that happened in Venezuela last week.

And it rebuilds the institutions that are required for domestic resource mobilisation, so that countries can eventually fund their own development.

But ODA alone cannot close the global financing gap.

We will have to do things in a different way.

Public finance is, in the end, what makes private investment possible.

It absorbs the initial risk.

It builds the regulatory conditions.

It opens the markets that allow businesses to invest.

And when these partnerships are nationally-led, they align with local priorities and global demand.

We see this happening in practice.

Right now, to give you an example, UNDP is helping countries across Africa turn the African Continental Free Trade Area into a reality – a reality that is strengthening trade systems, connecting businesses to new markets, and helping women-led SMEs become trade-ready.

A single market of 1.3 billion people.

A combined GDP of more than US $3.4 trillion at the moment, and we all know what the potential could be.

That future is already being built in factories, digital platforms, border posts, logistics hubs and marketplaces across the continent.

And it is creating new opportunities for African businesses to scale across borders.

It is also giving European companies a more predictable environment to invest, trade and build long-term partnerships.

In a continent where very often the perceived risk is being seen as very high, but the reality of risk very often is much more manageable than what people at first sight would think.

This is the African Continental Free Trade Area.

This is how development and partnerships unlock markets at scale.

That is also the overarching aim of the Global Gateway.

Building partnerships that strengthen European competitiveness while advancing sustainable development outcomes across the continents.

And one lesson is consistent across all these experiences.

Markets follow effective governance.

Investment follows well-functioning institutions.

And jobs follow stability.

There is no country in the world that has been successful in reaching development and reaching prosperity without a core private sector that is functioning in well-functioning markets.

Without those foundations, markets do not emerge.

They fail.

So, the choice before Europe is not between spending money abroad or saving it at home.

Very often that is kind of the tenor of the political debate.

That is not the debate for me that is really at the table.

It is whether Europe invests upstream in resilience and prosperity.

Or pays downstream for the consequences of those risks which are not being addressed .

And that really brings me to the central question that I would like to answer.

What exactly does Europe gain from sustained external engagement?

Let me outline five reasons why external action is an investment in Europe’s future.

First, on security.

Very high on the social and political agenda.

The danger in any crisis does not go away when there is a ceasefire.

True security requires lasting stability, and stability is always anchored in economic opportunity.

Because those foundations are so hard to rebuild, investing in prevention upstream is always way cheaper and way smarter than managing the crisis downstream.

Afghanistan shows why.

With the EU's strong partnership and generous financial support, the UN has been able to stay and deliver - helping avert a deeper humanitarian catastrophe since August 2021.

Together, we prevented the collapse of basic services and supported over half the population with food and health aid.

With EU support, we assisted over 80,000 women entrepreneurs to restart or sustain their businesses with small grants, often just €500 to €1,300.

Really small investments, but this was at the core of development in the country, and at maintaining peace in the country.

Each of these businesses typically employs eight to 10 people – translating into nearly half-a-million jobs and 2.7 million livelihoods improved.

This is a cost-effective model, built on self-reliance.

It is shaping futures that we look forward to.

And averting a deeper crisis that would start in Afghanistan but that would have global shockwaves.

And that you would feel also here in the European Union.

In reality, it demonstrates how development is your first line of defence.

Very often we would say our first line of defense is defense spending.

Yes, of course that is part of it.

But your real first line of defense, I would even say, your real pre-emptive strike to say in military terms, is a pre-emptive strike you will do to avoid that the conflict arises.

Development actually is a pre-emptive strike from a security point of view.

Second, on prosperity.

Better infrastructure creates jobs and opportunity.

Rising purchasing power – particularly for women and youth - creates new economic demand.

And stable markets allow businesses to thrive.

The European economy benefits from all three that I have just mentioned.  

Recent modelling suggests that EU aid could boost the EU’s GDP by 0.08%, equivalent to an additional €10.7 billion in annual economic output.

Development spending does not disappear overseas.

Nearly half of it comes back through growth, trade and demand - benefiting European exporters, investors and supply chains.

UNDP is working alongside EU Member States to advance this approach.

For instance, working closely with the Government of Italy as part of the Mattei Plan to strengthen renewable energy and climate finance opportunities across Africa.

It is advancing local solutions at scale and opening new opportunities for local and European companies.

This is the type of mutually beneficial partnership that Europe can scale.

And that concept of mutually beneficial partnerships was also central in the G7 conclusion that really fits with the way we and the European Union looks at it.

Third, on strategic resources.

Europe’s clean and digital transitions depend on access to critical minerals, renewable energy capacity, and resilient supply chains.

Yet many of the resources that Europeans and European business will require are not located within its borders.

The question is how Europe helps shape the conditions and opportunities around those resources that are outside of the continent.

Through our partnerships across the world, UNDP is helping countries move up value chains, strengthen governance, and attract investment.

This is not only good development policy.

It is also smart industrial policy.

Because in today's economy, supply chains are strategic infrastructure.

In an era of growing geopolitical competition, they require long-term partnerships that benefit both sides, but also includes industrial development, technological improvements, and jobs in partner countries.

That is precisely what Europe's external action, in partnership with the UN, helps deliver.

Fourth, on global public goods.

European citizens, for their good life and for the quality of life that is being enjoyed here, they depend on a stable climate, resilient health systems, and secure food and water supplies.

These are what we call global public goods.

They cannot simply be “bought” by one nation.

This is something that we have to build and they must be built in partnership.

We see the power of this approach in our climate cooperation.

With support from the EU and its Member States, the UN's Climate Promise is driving decisive climate action in more than 140 countries.

We work closely with the EU's Global Green Bond Initiative, which is mobilising up to €20 billion in private capital for sustainable infrastructure projects where it matters most and where it is the most cost effective.

We know climate is not bound to borders.

So, that means that our solutions also cannot be bound to borders.

More broadly, since 2022, UNDP and its partners, including Team Europe, have mobilised around €800 billion in public and private finance.

This provides the momentum that is finally moving the SDGs forward.

I think it is a very tangible way of showing a domain where we would not have progress if it was not for multilateralism.

You could be very powerful, you could be very influential, but tackling climate change and the consequences of climate change, there is no one in the world that can say I can do this on my own, I do not need to work with anyone together.

Finally, on migration management.

Migration management is often associated with borders, but we all know that when there are issues of migration, the issue does not start at the border.

It starts way earlier than before people reach it.

It starts when opportunity fades.

When there are not enough jobs.

Or when conflict strikes.

Experience shows that investments in services, jobs, and stability reduce migration pressures and create conditions for returns.

It is way more effective than reactive measures alone.

And there are good examples of this.

Iraq.

Nearly five million displaced people have returned to their communities in Iraq.

How have they returned?

They have returned because basic services returned as well: healthcare, education, energy.

When you restore those basic services, and then you provide institutions that are inclusive, and if you provide stability, people eventually return.

But that demands action on the ground, of course, to make it happen, and the benefits are to the global community.

Taken together, the conclusion is simple:

Development strengthens our security.

It grows our prosperity.

It secures our supply chains.

It protects our shared global goods.

And it addresses migration at its source.

Excellencies,

If Europe reduces its engagement in strategic regions, the vacuum that it creates will not remain empty.

It’s very clear.

Others will step in.

They will finance the energy and digital systems, shape the standards, and define the terms of future cooperation.

At the same time, the European value proposition is unique and closely aligned with the 2030 Agenda.

It is anchored in human rights, environmental sustainability, and strong social standards.

When Europe engages with the world, it does not just build infrastructure - it builds a level playing field.

Together, the EU and the United Nations build partnerships rooted in genuine local value addition and empowerment.

When we cooperate to finance energy or digital systems, we ensure that they reduce inequalities and exclusion, and create decent jobs.

Our shared normative frameworks are the best insurance policy a state can have for sustainable, long-term growth.

But maintaining influence requires more than just an ambitious vision and a strong budget.

It also needs execution – across the entire spectrum - from Middle-Income countries to Small Islands Developing States to Least Developed Countries.

Yes, it includes the hardest, most fragile markets on earth.

But also these are countries with the highest potential to really make the difference.

Delivering impact across a diverse landscape requires deep global trust and alignment with national priorities.

It demands a people-centred approach, operational presence, and the ability to take risks.

This is precisely where the United Nations adds value.

We provide the on-the-ground delivery.

It is also about using one euro to mobilise many more.

Every euro invested in UNDP helps mobilise nearly €60 in additional public and private finance.

And we do that by de-risking fragile environments where the EU can help, where the UN can help Europe channel capital where it is needed most.

At a time of fiscal pressure - and we know that every euro is debated, and we know that every euro is required by many constituencies - that type of leverage where public money can unlock multitudes of private money is a very compelling argument.

We see this in Ukraine where, together with the EU and the European Investment Bank, UNDP has helped communities access more than €1.2 billion in recovery financing.

That is used in a war-ravaged country, rebuilding schools, hospitals, energy infrastructure, and public services, especially in frontline communities.

True recovery is never just about restoring what was lost.

It is about building back stronger.

That is the core of UNDP's mandate: bridging the critical gap between humanitarian relief and early recovery.

I saw this first-hand a few months ago during my visit to Syria.

Our approach restores electricity, repairs water systems, and rebuilds jobs and livelihoods.

We are providing the early recovery support that helps communities stand on their own two feet and then move on based on their own strengths.

It also allows people to return to their homes.

It is precisely in these fragile spaces that partnerships matter most.

This is where the EU, frankly, is indispensable.

It brings financial scale, political weight, and strategic vision.

UNDP brings the staying power, the local networks, and the risk-absorption required to make European capital deployable.

Together, we can make capital work where it otherwise would not.

This is really the direction of travel.

Partnering even more closely together to spend smarter.

To drive catalytic investment.

This is why it is important that the ambition reflected in the Commission’s Multiannual Financial Framework proposal is preserved.

Decisions taken today, long before execution begins, will ultimately define what Europe is able to deliver to the world tomorrow.

Excellencies,

The choice is about how much Europe invests – and what it invests in.

The partnership between the European Union and the United Nations has already shown what strategic investment delivers:

Peace, resilience and prosperity.

Those investments have improved lives far beyond Europe's borders while advancing Europe's own security and strategic interests.

The question is whether Europe now deepens that approach - or scales it back.

Whether external action is seen as expendable.

Or as part of Europe's security architecture.

Because development finance is much more than narrow commercial policy.

It is the foundation on which markets, opportunity and stability are built.

And we should be clear about what follows when that foundation weakens.

Instability does not disappear.

It moves closer.

It costs more to manage.

And is harder to contain.

The distinction between development and security has already collapsed.

So the question is no longer abstract.

Will Europe shape the world it depends on?

Or will it be shaped by it?

That is really the strategic choice of this EU budget.

And with the United Nations as a trusted partner, Europe has all the means to make that investment count.

Thank you.