We had good discussions and made progress in a number of areas. Let me start with Ukraine. This morning, we adopted the 19th sanctions package, a wide ranging and extensive package that hits at the heart of Russia's war economy. And, in parallel, the US is proceeding with its own set of sanctions on Russia – a most welcome move. Because together with our partners and allies we have greater impact. And we will keep up pressure on Russia for as long as it takes. Just as we always said that we will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes to secure an end to the killing, and a just and lasting peace. This was also our message to President Zelenskyy earlier today.
We had a good discussion on the Reparations Loan to be financed with the immobilised Russian assets. It allowed us to identify points we still need to clarify, then we will come back with the different options that we will develop. Let me underline again: we will always respect European and international law while taking this work forward.
Now, on defence. We had a very positive discussion today on our Roadmap for Readiness 2030. First, the Roadmap identifies the capability gaps as well as the objectives and milestones to reach our goals by 2030. This is of course closely coordinated with NATO. Second, this is a 360 degrees approach. Because our security is about protecting borders. Today it is in the east, tomorrow it might be in the south. The Flagship Projects that we have identifies are a clear example of this. They are pan-European and cross-cutting in nature and can be projects of common European interest, you mentioned the Drone Alliance, or the Eastern Flank Watch, also the space defence or the European air shield, which are typical examples. Third, the Roadmap comes with a surge in defence expenditure. It is therefore for us very important that these defence investments are an engine for growth. In other words, we want a return on investment, it is going to be up to EUR 800 billion till 2030. And we want a very clear return on investments by creating jobs and having research and development here in the European Union. So, Europe must be responsible for its own defence. As part of a strong Trans-Atlantic security and fully aligned with NATO.
Moving on to competitiveness and the clean transition. Globally the clean transition is now in full swing. Clean tech markets around the world are booming. The global market for batteries is expected to double in size over the next five years. The global market for wind turbines continues to rise by over 10% every year. And if you look at developing economies across Asia, Africa and Latin America, last year the sales of electric cars have risen by 60%. This is not just good news for the climate, it is also a great economic opportunity. So the question for us is, whether we want to reap the benefits of this global clean tech boom. Or just let others profit from it. And, of course, the answer is very clear, we are going all in in this competition. There were three points we emphasised in this discussion. First, we must support more clean products that are made in Europe, this gives us also independence. So we will introduce a "Made in Europe" criterion for public procurement in some strategic sectors. Public procurement accounts for around about 14% of our European GDP – so an enormous financial firepower potentially in the hands of governments. Second, we must ensure that new foreign investments in our industry are truly in our interest. They must result in jobs and technology transfer here in the European Union. And third, we will step up targeted support for key industries, like cars and battery manufacturing. For instance, we are working on a Battery Booster to support production in Europe. And with a new set of initiatives for the automotive sector, working on pushing the automotive sector and developing the car of the future, this also includes a new simplification omnibus.
Turning to our climate targets. We are on track for the 2030 goal. We have of course all agreed on a clear target of climate neutrality by 2050. Now we have the interim step 2040 ahead of us. We had proposed a 90% target and introduced new flexibilities. And today we saw a strong endorsement of an ambitious, pragmatic approach. We also discussed the flexibilities to get there: In the form of international credits and flexibilities between the different economic sectors. In short: more flexibility on how to reach the targets.
Finaly housing, I am very grateful to Antonio for putting the crucial issue of housing on our agenda. Housing is and will remain a national competence, but some of those challenges would benefit from a coordinated European approach. And therefore, still this year I will put forward a European Affordable Housing Plan. And because we discussed we will need a strong European coordination, we will convene the first EU Housing Summit in 2026.I leave it at that, and thank you very much.
