战争和危机正在耗损我们的经济、安全感和心理健康。这些因素正影响着我们的日常生活：供应链的可靠性在下降，能源价格不断飙升，对化石能源和关键矿产的贸易依赖对国家安全构成了风险。关税、产能过剩和出口限制也威胁着就业与繁荣。综合来看，这些情况暴露了欧洲的弱点和脆弱性。
与此同时，我们也证明了通过加强联盟、提升经济和军事能力，可以扩大我们的行动空间。形成统一的欧洲政治阵线有助于维护主权。尽管近期局势动荡，欧洲仍是全球最具吸引力的居住和工作地之一。保持欧洲的强大取决于我们自己，不由白宫、中方或克里姆林宫决定。我希望德国和欧洲（对我而言也包括英国这一重要盟友）能够足够强大，以免受敲诈。解决方案是变得更加拥有主权，且必须明确，主权并非民族主义。
主权是政治权力和经济实力的前提。但我们只有作为欧洲人共同努力，才能增强主权。一个强大且拥有主权的欧洲可以保护其公民免受来自内部或外部的威胁。德国政府正在制定一项改革议程，这并非紧缩计划，而是一个主权项目。如果我们想维护和提升欧洲的行动能力，就需要改革德国。由于经济和军事主权是德国的优先重点，我们推出了5000亿欧元的投资基金，用于现代化基础设施和投资高质量公共产品。我们已经改革了德国的债务刹车制度，以便为军队提供现代化装备并增强在北约的参与度。但作为欧洲人，我们并非生活在真空之中。
Wars and crises are draining our economies, our sense of security and our emotional wellbeing. They are affecting our daily lives: supply chains are becoming less reliable, energy prices are soaring, and trade dependencies on fossil-fuel energy and critical minerals pose risks to national security. Tariffs, industrial overcapacities and export restrictions threaten jobs and prosperity. Taken together, all this is exposing Europe’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities.At the same time, we have shown how strengthening our alliances and our economic and military capacities can increase our scope for action. Forming a united European political front is helping to safeguard the sovereignty of Greenland, for instance. And despite all the recent turmoil, Europe remains one of the most attractive places in the world to live and work.It is up to us to keep Europe strong. We decide – not the White House, not the Great Hall of the People and not the Kremlin. I want Germany and Europe, and for me that very much includes the UK as an integral ally and partner, to be strong enough that nobody can blackmail us. The solution is to become more sovereign, and to be clear, sovereignty is not nationalism.Sovereignty is the precondition for political power and economic strength. But we can only enhance our sovereignty together, as Europeans. A strong and sovereign Europe can protect its citizens against threats, whether they come from within or abroad.The German government is working on a reform agenda; not as an austerity programme but a sovereignty project. We need to reform Germany if we want to safeguard and enhance our European capacity to act.As economic and military sovereignty is the priority focus in Germany, we have introduced a €500bn investment fund to modernise our infrastructure and invest in high-quality public goods. We have already reformed Germany’s debt brake to allow us to modernise and equip our military and enhance our engagement in Nato.But as Europeans, we are not living up to our potential. We have world-class research and development but, way too often, start-ups founded in Europe relocate to the US because they cannot find the necessary capital to grow here. This is why I have been pushing to deepen the single European capital markets union.In Germany, the system of collective bargaining that connects unions, employers and the state in a “social contract” is a strategic advantage at times of crisis and reform. Together, we will carry a big responsibility in the months to come as we update our business model and renew our social contract. To make that effort pay off, we are seeking to introduce a tax reform that increases incomes for 95% of people, while asking the highest earners and the wealthiest individuals to contribute a bit more.Germany has a part-time employment rate of nearly 40%, one of the highest in Europe. Almost one in two women work part-time. This is why the next priority is to reduce structural barriers to the labour market. Some
