The Open Letter:
March 2025:
Europe now finds itself in a new reality, with the lives of Europeans, including Ukrainians, on the line. There are now generations of Europeans seeing their world and way of life directly attacked under threat. Securing a more hopeful, sustainable, democratic future is now at hand.
Yes, the EU was created as a peace project, and for decades it delivered unprecedented stability and prosperity. However, in this situation, national leaders and the EU cannot delay urgent action in building up European resilience, self-reliance, and regeneration.
Immediate steps are needed to:
- Create a European Defence Pact, integrating European militaries and defence structures into a joint effective force, and exponentially increasing EU and Member States’ spending on effective and democratically accountable European defence, not fragmented national efforts. European defence must place democracy, human rights, and the rule of law at its core, with a continued commitment to defend Europe, including Ukraine.
- Building up European tech autonomy, and clean sustainable industry. Europe must be completely self-reliant in terms of digital technologies, cloud infrastructure, online media, AI and emerging tech. Europe must be able to deliver its own climate transition and build up climate resilience on its own. This is a massive investment opportunity which will pay off.
- Make the proposed European Democracy Shield a robust and ambitious programme with new resources to defend and innovate a vibrant and inclusive democracy across Europe.
The President of the European Commission’s initiatives REARM Europe and the Clean Industrial Deal are necessary first steps in this direction. However, ambitions must be raised to meet the moment.
Once again, Europe is held hostage by a veto of one individual – that is unacceptable, the veto must be abolished. Immediate short term steps should be accompanied with an urgent drive to reform the European Union, and update the EU Treaties.
– Signed, the Generation Europe campaign
Contact: info@alliance4europe.eu
