Prime Minister Janez Janša: Europe must ensure lower energy prices to boost competitiveness
SLOVENIA, October 16 - Following the meeting, the Prime Minister stressed that European leaders had concluded two very intensive days of in-depth strategic discussions on several key issues concerning the future of the European Union.
"Until now, it has generally been difficult for the European Council to address more than one major issue at a time. This time, there were several, and we held in-depth strategic discussions on at least three of them," the Prime Minister said.
Europe's competitiveness also depends on affordable energy prices
A significant part of the discussions focused on the competitiveness of the European economy and high energy prices. According to the Prime Minister, there was broad agreement on the direction Europe needs to take if it wants to lower energy prices and strengthen the competitiveness of its industry.
"It became very clear that more or less everyone knows which direction we need to take to bring down energy prices and thereby make Europe and European industry more competitive. But it also became clear that admitting past mistakes is very difficult," he stressed.
In his assessment, a major review of the EU's CO₂ emissions trading policy is likely within the next year at the latest. He also emphasised that the European Union's strategic autonomy remains an important objective, but that the energy transition must be aligned with the practical possibilities for securing new energy sources.
He identified the approach to nuclear energy as one of the key mistakes of past European energy policy, arguing that nuclear power should play a much greater role in ensuring a reliable and affordable electricity supply.
"Today, we have a situation where a kilowatt-hour of electricity costs eight cents in China, 18 cents in the United States and between 28 and 32 cents in Europe. Until these prices are brought into line, it is very difficult to talk about Europe achieving competitiveness through investment," the Prime Minister warned.
He also highlighted what he described as a fundamental realisation that Europe is now coming to: "Before you start talking about abandoning existing energy sources, you have to make sure that new ones will be available."
The Prime Minister also drew attention to past decisions concerning Europe's natural gas supply, which, in his assessment, had increased Europe's energy dependence on Russia.
EU enlargement is a strategic response to geopolitical challenges
Another important topic at the meeting was EU enlargement, which the Prime Minister described as "the European Union's strategic offensive response to the challenges we face". He argued that a more decisive enlargement policy over the past decade could have prevented some of the problems the EU faces today.
The leaders paid particular attention to Montenegro, which is furthest advanced in the accession process. Slovenia supports Montenegro's membership of the European Union, and the Prime Minister expressed his expectation that the outstanding issues between Montenegro and Croatia could also be resolved in the coming months.
"Slovenia supports Montenegro's membership. We also believe that Montenegro could resolve some of the outstanding issues with Croatia in the coming months, as they are not particularly difficult and are largely symbolic in nature," he said.
He added that Slovenia could assist Montenegro by sharing its own experience of the accession process, during which Slovenia had, among other things, been required to amend its constitution to obtain candidate country status. The leaders also discussed the European prospects of Albania, Moldova, North Macedonia and other Western Balkan countries.
The situation in Ukraine is extremely grave, EU aid remains critical
A significant part of the meeting was devoted to the war in Ukraine and options for further European assistance. Following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European leaders gained a more detailed picture of the current situation.
"After President Zelenskyy had answered our questions, we had a much clearer understanding of the situation there. And it is not good. The situation is now at its most serious since Russia launched its aggression more than four years ago," the Prime Minister warned.
He stressed that further strengthening Ukraine's position and weakening Russia's ability to continue its aggression were essential to securing a ceasefire and achieving a more lasting peace. "We can achieve peace – or a ceasefire, which is the first step on the path to peace – when Ukraine is stronger and Russia is weaker," he said.
The Prime Minister warned that Ukraine is facing a harsh winter, which is why the European Union also discussed further options for financial aid. Regarding the provision of approximately ten billion euros in funding, he expressed the view that the funds would be secured despite some outstanding implementation issues.
Growing consensus on the need for change in migration policy
One of the longest debates on the second day of the meeting focused on migration. The Prime Minister stressed that Member States were increasingly recognising the need to reform the EU's current migration policy.
"All 27 Member States have, in one way or another – some with great difficulty – come to terms with the fact that things cannot continue as they have until now," he said.
He welcomed the progress made in reducing illegal crossings of the European Union's external borders, but cautioned that the results varied from one region to another. He singled out the Western Balkan migration route, where progress has been less significant than in the Mediterranean.
According to him, several concrete proposals enjoying broad support were put forward. Due to time constraints, the leaders did not adopt any specific conclusions on migration, but migration is very likely to be one of the key topics at the European Council meeting in December.
"At least 22 countries share views similar to those of Slovenia, including on how to define the problem, not just on assessing the situation and how to move forward," the Prime Minister emphasised.
Slovenia will insist on the importance of cohesion in EU budget negotiations
European leaders also continued their discussions on the EU's multiannual financial framework for 2028–2034. According to the Prime Minister, the discussion shed some more light on Member States' negotiating positions and the areas where compromises will need to be found, but no substantial progress was made towards reaching an agreement.
"The picture is somewhat clearer than before, although it is difficult to say that any major progress has been made towards reaching agreement," he said.
He particularly stressed that no agreement had yet been reached on new own resources for the EU budget and that these would not, in themselves, resolve the key differences between Member States. In his view, an informal or extraordinary meeting of European leaders will probably be necessary ahead of the December European Council meeting.
The Prime Minister stressed that the Friends of Cohesion group, of which Slovenia is a member, remained united and strong following the discussions. In future negotiations, Slovenia will defend the importance of cohesion policy in reducing development disparities and ensuring the balanced development of the European Union.
As for the specific national financial envelopes, he noted that negotiations were still at an early stage and that it was therefore too soon to discuss the final amounts each country would receive.
At the conclusion of the two-day meeting, the Prime Minister emphasised that the European Union faces the need to adapt its existing policies on a number of strategic issues. In his view, key measures in this regard will include enhancing the competitiveness of the European economy, ensuring affordable energy, strengthening strategic autonomy, continuing the enlargement of the European Union and addressing migration challenges more effectively.
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