Prime Minister Fiala after European Council Meeting: Climate targets must be realistic, otherwise they will damage Europe's competitiveness
Prime Minister Petr Fiala participated in the European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday, June 26, 2025. Leaders of Member States discussed strengthening the European Union's competitiveness, economy and security issues, including developments in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Before the start of the summit, there was a regular morning meeting of the group of countries advocating for stricter migration policy. For the first time ever, Germany joined this group. “This is a great success for our initiative, which strives for a stricter migration policy. “I could already say today that the formation of the group and its results are a great success, and it is good that the President of the European Commission regularly attends the meetings and that the Commission adopts our proposals as their own,” stated Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who subsequently commented on the actual course of the European Council.
The debate on strengthening European defence and security was very important and was one of the central topics of the summit. “We responded to the recent NATO commitment to spend five per cent on defence. We therefore discussed how to best invest these resources. In this context, we have supported the reduction of bureaucracy for the defence industry in order to create conditions enabling the industry to increase its production capacity,” stated the Prime Minister, emphasising that this represents a significant opportunity for the Czech defence industry, as it is experiencing rapid growth and employing an increasing number of people. The conclusions also approved strengthening the financing of the defence industry by the European Investment Bank and private banks. The Czech Republic has long maintained, supported and advocated this position.
One of the summit's topics was a debate on the economic section. The Prime Minister reiterated and rejected the European Commission's proposal to reduce emissions by 90% by 2040 and presented the position of 18 states advocating adjustments to the ETS 2 climate allowance system. “Climate targets must be realistic, otherwise they will damage Europe's competitiveness. The Czech government will do everything to protect businesses and households, which is why we initiated a proposal for trading changes that has already been supported by a majority of EU member states, and together we are requesting modifications from the European Commission,” the Prime Minister explained.
During the afternoon, there was a debate on the Middle East and Ukraine, where the Czech Republic played an important role. The conclusions included a clear call that Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons, as well as condemnation of Hamas's terrorist acts with a demand for the release of all hostages. Simultaneously, there was an appeal to Israel to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined the summit via video conference and requested further support. The Czech Republic continues with its ammunition initiative and supports Ukraine both militarily and politically. A call condemning support for Russia from Iran, Belarus, and North Korea was approved. This position was only opposed by Hungary.
The European Council has also adopted Czech priorities: reducing bureaucracy, limiting excessive regulation and removing barriers in the internal market, particularly in cross-border services. The overall outcomes of the European Council can be found here.
