COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,update

 

Press material Tuesday, 22 September 2026

● European Council   21/09/2026 20:46 | Press release | Declaration of the Partners for Multilateralism (P4M) summit, 21 September 2026   A joint commitment to multilateralism, international law, peace and prosperity Initial co-sponsors: Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, India and Kenya. We come together at a time of profound global transformation. The escalating pace and scale of global change are reshaping our present and will define our collective future. We are concerned by growing polarisation, the spread of conflict, violations of international law and the increasing resort to power politics, protectionism, coercion and the threat or use of force. These trends are a threat to international peace and security and harm global cooperation precisely when it is needed more than ever. We recognise that economic interdependence is increasingly used as a source of leverage, disrupting trade, supply chains, investment and development finance. At the same time, shared global challenges, including the triple planetary crisis of climate emergency, biodiversity loss and pollution as well as the rapid development of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, require stronger cooperation and more effective provision of global public goods. Today, we, the signatories to this Declaration, commit to work together in support of peace, stability, inclusive and sustainable development, shared prosperity, human dignity and rights for all. We reaffirm that the multilateral system founded on the United Nations Charter remains indispensable. It has helped provide a framework for peace, decolonisation, prosperity, and human dignity. It must now respond to a world that is more interconnected and complex, more contested and more multipolar. We affirm the need to uphold and enforce the rules, principles and commitments that remain essential to international order, while renewing and reforming the multilateral system so that it is more effective, representative, inclusive and fit for purpose. We reaffirm our commitment to international law and to the principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, the peaceful settlement of disputes and the prohibition of the threat or use of force. We underline the importance of international humanitarian law, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. We reaffirm our commitment to the timely implementation of key international agreements and frameworks, including the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We recognize that rising inequalities within and among countries pose challenges to stability, social cohesion and inclusive growth and must be addressed by joint efforts, including through initiatives such as the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty and the International Panel on Inequality. We commit to strengthening multilateral cooperation that is open, fair, equitable, inclusive, networked and practical, including through closer partnerships with regional organisations and support for regional integration. We agree to work together to reform and strengthen multilateral institutions, in particular the United Nations through initiatives such as UN80, so that they are better able to prevent conflict, respond to crises, deliver sustainable development, promote fair trade, protect human rights and the rule of law, and address existing and emerging global challenges. We support fair, open, resilient, predictable and inclusive economic cooperation. This includes more diversified and resilient global supply chains, reform of the multilateral trading system, an improved international financial architecture and stronger coordination on international finance, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, climate change and global health issues. The signatories to this declaration are committed to strengthen the multilateral system, including through regular exchanges open to partners from all regions of the world, to foster dialogue, coordination and practical cooperation. Today, at a time of global transformation and mounting pressure on the international order, we choose cooperation, respect for international law, multilateralism and shared responsibility as the foundations of our collective efforts. Event page - Partners for multilateralism summit, 21 September 2026   Visit the website ● European Council   21/09/2026 19:03 | Press release | “Multilateralism is not idealism, it’s a necessity” – op-ed article by President António Costa, President Inácio Lula da Silva, President William Ruto and Prime Minister Mark Carney   As world leaders head to the UN General Assembly in New York this week, we confront a paradox. The global community is more interdependent than ever, even as it becomes more fragmented and polarized. Our economies are deeply intertwined. Technology links billions of people across borders, while capital, goods, data and ideas move at speeds that would have been unimaginable when the United Nations was founded in 1945. Global trade reached a record $35 trillion last year and six billion people -almost three-quarters of humanity- are connected to the internet. However, geopolitics is moving the other way. 2025 saw 65 state-based armed conflicts, the highest number recorded since 1946, while global military spending rose to a record $2.9 trillion. International law is under strain. The language of spheres of influence and power politics is back. Economic ties are increasingly used as instruments of pressure and coercion while inequality is on the rise, both within and among countries. Some may conclude, therefore, the multilateral system has failed. In part, that criticism is understandable. A multilateral system that fails to reflect the realities of today will not survive the test of time. But the need for multilateral cooperation is very much alive. The post war world is long gone, but the underlying logic that justified multilateral cooperation is more evident than ever. The climate emergency is going beyond even the most alarming predictions. Artificial intelligence is advancing faster than our capacity to control it. Pandemics can spread across continents in weeks, while financial shocks can disrupt markets in hours. Armed conflicts can destabilise entire regions and force millions to flee from their homes. Global maritime chokepoints, such as the Strait of Hormuz, constrained by conflicts, can paralyse supply chains around the world. No country, however powerful, can manage these challenges alone. Cooperation is not an act of idealism; it is a practical necessity. The question is not whether multilateralism can survive, but how it must evolve to meet the realities of our time. In this context, we are coming together with a new initiative: ‘Partners for Multilateralism’. P4M is not about creating another exclusive bloc or another international bureaucracy. Its purpose is the opposite: to create a flexible, open framework for countries from different regions and political traditions that are willing to work across divides, to build coalitions for reform and to translate shared principles into practical action. P4M will support the reform of the United Nations and other multilateral institutions, to make them more representative, legitimate, effective and trusted. It aims to strengthen cooperation between regional organisations, contribute to peace and security, improve global economic governance and develop common approaches to emerging challenges, from artificial intelligence and climate change to health security and digital transformation. P4M will seek to renew and strengthen the multilateral system, not replace it; build bridges and bring together countries that may disagree on many issues but share a commitment to the basic principles enshrined in the UN Charter. Principles that are not negotiable, like sovereign equality, territorial integrity, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the prohibition of the threat or use of force, international humanitarian law, sustainable development, human rights and fundamental freedoms. UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, recently said that “superpowers are discovering their limits”. We believe that the international community must rediscover the extraordinary potential of collective action. Competition does not have to become confrontation, if we create channels of dialogue and cooperation. Sovereignty is strengthened, not diminished, when countries work together to address shared challenges. National interests are often best advanced through collective action on such challenges. The real choice is not between preserving the international order established after Second World War or abandoning it. It is between renewing multilateral cooperation in a changing world, or allowing fragmentation, polarisation and power politics to define the next era. As we contend with a world order that is transforming fast, we call on leaders from around the world to join us in the P4M initiative: choosing cooperation over fragmentation, law over power, and shared responsibility over division. The President of the European Council, António Costa, together with the President of Kenya, William Ruto, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, will convene the Partners for multilateralism, international law, peace and prosperity summit (P4M summit) on 21 September 2026 in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly High Level Week. Event page - Partners for multilateralism summit, 21 September 2026   Visit the website ● European Council   22/09/2026 02:32 | Statements and remarks | Remarks by President António Costa at the press conference following the Partners for multilateralism summit   Today, leaders from across the world came together in New York with a clear message: international law matters, cooperation matters, and the United Nations remains at the heart of our collective efforts for peace and prosperity. Today, we launched the Partners for Multilateralism initiative, co-sponsored by Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, India, Kenya and the European Union. We come from different continents. We have different histories and perspectives. But we share a fundamental conviction: the challenges we face cannot be solved by any country acting alone. And we share a common purpose: to uphold international law, strengthen multilateral cooperation, and deliver peace and prosperity for our people. Because there can be no lasting peace without prosperity. And no lasting prosperity without peace. Neither can endure without international law, effective institutions and international cooperation. From climate change to global health, from technological transformation to international security, the challenges of our time demand collective solutions. And our response must be collective, too. This is why today’s meeting is not an end in itself. It is the beginning of a joint effort to turn our shared principles into concrete action. We invite all members of the international community to endorse the declaration adopted today, to join this initiative and to help shape its next steps. We have tasked our senior officials with establishing a coordination channel and identifying priority areas where we can work together and deliver concrete results. The EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, will coordinate this effort on behalf of the European Union. Today’s meeting has demonstrated something important: in a world of growing divisions, there is still a strong shared commitment to cooperation. And that commitment extends across continents, regions and political traditions. The road ahead will not be easy. But today, we have shown that we are not walking it alone. We are building a partnership open to all those who believe in international law, in the United Nations and in the power of working together. Our message is simple: we are stronger when we act together. And together, we can turn our shared principles into concrete results. Thank you.   Visit the website   ● European Council   22/09/2026 01:04 | Statements and remarks | Opening remarks by President António Costa at the Partners for multilateralism summit   I am very glad to convene all of you here today. And I am particularly pleased to co-host the first meeting of Partners for Multilateralism, together with Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, India and Kenya. A wide and diverse representation of the international community from all continents. We each come from different regions, from different cultures and history. But we are all facing the same challenges. We are at a critical moment for the world. Conflict is spreading. International law including the United Nations Charter are being repeatedly violated, including by permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. And the multilateral system is under stress. At the same time, climate change, pandemics, artificial intelligence and economic insecurity are challenges confronting the world to an extent that no country – neither big nor small – can address alone. And this is why we must turn confrontation into cooperation. And this is why we need to create a global network connecting us, based on multilateral cooperation, mutual respect and international law. This is the spirit in which we propose to launch our initiative today: Partners for Multilateralism. This aims to be an open platform for partners from all parts of the world who are ready to defend common principles and work towards concrete solutions. It will act as a network for dialogue, coalition-building and practical cooperation, helping us to coordinate in the face of common challenges. Our core objective is to support the work of the United Nations and other multilateral formats. And we will help to turn shared commitments into concrete action. In this respect, I see three main priorities: first, we must defend the rules and institutions that protect us all: the United Nations’ Charter, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and international law second, we must make progress in dealing with global challenges like climate finance, sustainable development, pandemic preparedness, economic resilience, and artificial intelligence third, we must reform our institutions so that they are fit for tomorrow’s world – not yesterday’s. The Pact for the Future, the UN80 initiative, and other reforms offer an important opportunity to make the United Nations more coherent, effective and efficient All in all, our task today is to strengthen what connects us. To build trust and deepen dialogue. To weave the network that can bring us closer together. And I look forward to hearing from all of you. Thank you very much.   Event page - Partners for multilateralism summit, 21 September 2026   Visit the website ● Council of the EU   22/09/2026 10:16 | Press release | European Peace Facility: Council increases support for the Djibouti Armed Forces to €20 million   The Council today agreed to strengthen EU support to the Djibouti Armed Forces under an existing assistance measure adopted in 2025 through the European Peace Facility. The financial support provided will increase from €10 million to €20 million. This increase in the financial reference amount reflects the strengthening of the EU-Djibouti partnership in the field of security and defence and reinforces the EU's support for Djibouti's efforts to enhance maritime security in the region. Today's decision further contributes to the EU's broader efforts to provide an integrated response to the deteriorating security situation in and around the Red Sea and to safeguard freedom of navigation. The objectives of today’s amendment to the Council Decision (CFSP) 2025/1554 remain focused on enhancing the operational readiness of the Djiboutian Navy, in particular by contributing to: the development and maintenance of assets to ensure full operational capabilities over the long term increased maritime domain awareness an enhanced presence at sea Background The European Peace Facility was established in March 2021 as an off-budget instrument for the financing of actions under the common foreign and security policy to prevent conflicts, preserve peace and strengthen international security and stability. In particular, the European Peace Facility allows the EU to finance actions designed to strengthen the capacities of third States and regional and international organisations relating to military and defence matters. In July 2025, the Council adopted the first assistance measure under the European Peace Facility to support the Djibouti Armed Forces. With implementation already underway, the increase in funding builds on this existing support and will enable the EU to further assist the Djibouti Armed Forces in strengthening maritime security in the region, particularly important in the current geopolitical context. European Peace Facility (background information) Civilian and military missions and operations (background information) The EU and Djibouti (EEAS)   Visit the website