Metsola to EU leaders: "We need to deliver. We don't have the luxury of time"

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola told EU heads of state and government on 18 June that the bloc "needs to deliver" and does not have "the luxury of time", according to a press release issued by the Parliament following her address to the European Council.

On enlargement, the release records Metsola welcoming the opening of accession negotiation clusters with Ukraine and Moldova. "Enlargement is no longer a distant promise. It is here, it is happening," she told leaders, while cautioning that closer market access cannot substitute for full EU membership.

On the next long-term budget, the Parliament said its President assured leaders it would engage constructively while defending its position, pressing for early parliamentary involvement and progress on new funding sources; she expressed optimism that agreement could be reached by year's end if the institutions proceed collaboratively. On competitiveness, she pointed to recent Parliament-Council agreements on artificial intelligence, midcaps and defence regulations, and to the Market Integration and Supervision package and EU Inc. as flagship vehicles for removing Single Market barriers.

The account rests on the Parliament's own press service. The remarks are on the record; the responses of member-state leaders around the Council table were not detailed in the release.