4 minute read
Dr Hans-Gert Pöttering, Berlin
(BSC/Dr Hans-Gert Pöttering*) Today more than ever the European Union is confronted in the foreign and security policy areas with a multitude of challenges that require common answers. For the first time in decades, with the annexation of the Crimea in breach of international law, borders within Europe have again been moved by force, calling into question the very foundations of the European order for peace. It is clear from the Russian intervention in Ukraine that Russia is prepared to use military means in order to impose its interests against those of its western partners. The advances of “Islamic State” (IS) in Syria and Iraq is shaking the Middle Eastern system of states to the core, creating a crisis that, not least of all due to the large numbers of refugees fleeing to the countries of the European Union in order to escape the war in Syria and the terror of IS, has long since spilled over into Europe.
In dealing with these crises the EU needs to consider what future role it wishes, through its foreign policy, to define for itself on the international stage and how it will shape its relations with its allies. The conflict in Ukraine and the common adoption of a sanctions regime against Russia have shown that the EU member states are able to agree on a common political line and that they are also willing to assume leadership responsibilities. Both of these are quite rightly being demanded of us by our transatlantic partners and are also essential preconditions for the EU to be able to play an active and defining role in the framework of a global foreign and security policy. In regard to the current refugee crisis, however, the EU member states have shown themselves to be divided. Once again the European Union is being put internally to the test and must ask how much solidarity the member states are willing to show towards each other in order to master the challenges ahead of them together. More than ever, faced with this disaster of the century, there is a need for comprehensive efforts to fight the root causes of the exodus and to better coordinate the growing influx of refugees. Anything less would be a sign of moral destitution on the part of the EU.
The current challenges call for a strengthening of the EU’s engagement in the foreign policy area: a renationalisation of foreign policy, with states pursuing their own interests to the detriment of European values, must be prevented. Only if there is solidarity within can Europe resolve its problems. And yet, these past few weeks, national interests have dominated the political discussions on dealing with the refugees. To make it possible nonetheless to find a solution to the urgent problem of relocating those who have already arrived in Europe, the EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers decided on 22 September 2015 for the first time to apply the qualified majority principle set out in the Lisbon Treaty in order to impose quotas for the distribution of 120 000 refugees amongst the countries of the Union. This was a necessary step in order to preserve the EU’s capacity for action and, above all, credibility. Indeed, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, quite rightly warns against the loss of standing and credibility that the EU will suffer if it cannot apply within its own borders the very values that it promotes vis-à-vis the rest of the world.
If the European Union is to be able meet the future security challenges more effectively it is essential to further develop the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP): Europe must be given the capacity once and for all to be an active player on the world stage and a reliable ally. This is why the European Council decided on 25 –26 June 2015 to take forwar d the work on a new European Security Strategy, to be submitted by June of next year. That strategy must take account of the new security situation in Europe’s neighbourhood and define regional priorities for the EU’s external relations.
It was agreed at the June meeting to continue working on “a more effective, visible and result-oriented CSDP, the further development of both civilian and military capabilities, and the strengthening of Europe’s defence industry”. Issues pertaining to the Common European Security and Defence Policy are in future to be placed regularly on the European Council’s agenda. These are steps in the right direction, but the EU member states must have the political will to take those steps together. *Dr Hans-Gert Pöttering, former President of the European Parliament, Chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and Member of the Advisory Board BSC 2015 “Europe must be given the capacity once and for all to be an active player on the world stage and a reliable ally.”
