Debate: Implementation of the common foreign and security policy – annual report  - Implementation of the common security and defence policy – annual report
Date: TUESDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Josep Borrell Fontelles
Language: EN

It’s very a broad issues, so let me try to concentrate on some specific ideas before entering into the debate with you. Thank you, first of all, to Mr McAllister and Ms Loiseau for their introductory statements and, in advance, I thank all the contributors to the outstanding work to the Parliament on the two reports.  The reports I suppose were difficult to draft because 2021 was a very difficult year. We had the pandemic lasting longer than expected, inequality is increasing and geopolitical challenges worsening. We have learned quite a lot of lessons from that. You already mentioned the case of Afghanistan, which is one of the key issues at which we have to look in order to take the lessons of what is happening there. This may be the worst case, but there are other cases which are positive.  There are positive developments, as you also acknowledge in your report. In the multilateral fora, the European Union remains committed to lead the global response to the pandemic and the fight against climate change. On security and defence we developed the strategic compass – thank you for the references that you made to it, Ms Loiseau.  Thank you also for the support that I hope Parliament will bring to the, strategic compass because it’s the first structured response to the security challenges that we are facing. We can talk a lot, but at the end what matters is the structural responses, and the strategic compass is the first and most important structural response to the defence challenges.  We will need to become a powerhouse. Yes, we have to continue defending multilateralism certainly, but we have to be a powerhouse and there is not a contradiction between these two objectives. On the contrary, they go hand in hand as you, Mr McAllister, and you, Ms Loiseau, have been saying and it’s well reflected in your reports.  Overall, I see in your reports four kinds of issues to address. First, on multilateralism and global commons. When I talk about global commons today it means talking about the pandemic and the climate.  Second, how do we relaunch transatlantic relations? I was talking with the newest US Ambassador to the European Union the other day about how to reinvigorate transatlantic relations in a context which is certainly marked by the worsening of the Ukrainian crisis, the increasing threats by Russia and the intensification of the strategic competition of the US with China.  Third, how do we stabilise our neighbourhood? How do we deepen our engagement with Africa? We have been talking about it before. And how do we engage with the Indo-Pacific? Thank you for the French Presidency for putting that on the agenda, because the Indo-Pacific is the place where the history of the world will be written in this century.  Now, Ukraine has concentrated our efforts, our worries on what’s happening in our relationship with Russia and the US has had to come back to Europe. But the China issue will dominate this century, and the Indo-Pacific is the place where we will have to be engaging more and more, and we are not enough engaged on that. Fourth, the growing weaponisation of interdependency. We believe that interdependency was a way of ensuring peace. The Coal and Steel Community was a way of creating interdependency in order to avoid war. And we have that in our DNA. Interdependency is a way of avoiding war. But today, interdependency is a weapon, and if you are dependent on me, I use this dependency in order to threaten you.  Some words about each one of these four issues. First, on multilateralism and global public goods. We advocated for a multilateral response to the pandemic, and we became the biggest donor ever since. Let’s not forget it. Let’s stop being masochists. We are the biggest donor of vaccines. The biggest exporter, yes, but to export is a commercial issue. You can export to Japan, and this is not helping the poor people in the world. But donating is another thing. Well on donors, we are the first one. We need to do more, but don’t forget that we are the one who does more in the world.  Climate: we were also the one who played a steering role launching the global methane pledge to reduce global emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030.  These are good examples of how the European Union should operate internationally, taking initiatives and building coalitions to rally the world. If we don’t build a coalition among others with respect to our efforts on climate change, our efforts will be completely useless because we are only 8% of the global emissions. Transatlantic relations. They have been very much revitalised with the Biden Administration. We don’t necessarily agree on everything. Certainly not. But this relation has been key in the current geopolitical context. With respect to the Ukrainian crisis and other threats about Russia, I want to say clearly that the American Administration has been extremely cooperative with us and we have been participating before and after any kind of exchange with Russia, both from NATO and the US. We have also launched our strategic dialogue about China. On climate, on corporate taxation, on the Iran JCPOA, which is at a critical moment, where the balance can go one side or the other – to agreement or to the disagreement – the negotiations we are coordinating in our relationship with the US have been much better, and I hope that it will continue being better in order that this transatlantic relations will also influence positively the other transatlantic relations.  The other transatlantic relation is with Latin America which, as you know, is also on the other side of the Atlantic. Your report rightly calls for a stepping up of our relations with Latin America. Last year, I visited Brazil and Peru. Look, in nine years this was the first high-level visit of the European Union to Brazil. Can you imagine? In nine years the first high-level visit of any European Union authority to Brazil which is not, by the way, the smallest country in Latin America or the least influential country in the world. We have to continue working on that.  Let me turn to the third point, the Africa and Indo-Pacific neighbourhood. Last year, we dealt with challenges related to destabilisation of our periphery. We have deepened our engagement with Africa and the Indo-Pacific. There are a lot of examples that show that we have to face hybrid conflicts, cyber—operations and intimidation, the state hijacking of planes and the blatant manipulation of migrants, like in Belarus, energy blackmail by Russia against Moldova, the use of disinformation as propaganda and, in the military area, as has been said, we have seen in the Sahel how the privatisation of armies is posing a new threat to our operations. On the Western Balkans we must continue working to bring these countries closer to the European future, and at the same time we have to counter the rise of divisive rhetoric and actions, especially in Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia, Kosovo. In the Eastern Mediterranean we have seen the tensions with Turkey easing, we have to recognise this. Still, Turkish activities in Varosha continue to be of concern. Then there is a different set of crises that demand tailored responses for Ethiopia, Mali, Sudan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Belarus. But we have to look at these challenges from an integrated perspective and consider the geopolitics of all the different elements, from climate to migration and digital standards and trade altogether. Your report underlined the need for a more coordinated and coherent approach, which is certainly needed, certainly. According to the Treaty, I am in charge of giving more coherence to the external policy of the European Union, putting together the two pillars – the intergovernmental pillar and the Commission pillar. Believe me, that’s not an easy task. I am trying to do my best. But first, I have to get unanimity among Member States and then have to merge the positions of the Council and the Commission.  You mentioned also the nuclear deal, the JCPOA. Last year, we resumed the talks and these talks are at a critical moment. Maybe in a couple of weeks we will be able to say where we are definitely. In the Southern neighbourhood and Africa, the situation in Libya has improved, but we have seen a clear regression in Tunisia. In South Africa, the year was marked by many conflicts. I am not going to talk more about Africa. Let’s hold the summit to talk. Looking east, the report drafted by David McAllister rightly points out that this is a particular challenge to upgrade our relations with the countries in the Gulf. The Gulf certainly is a critical region for us, and several Member States have addressed a letter to me recently asking to increase our relationship with the Gulf, to nominate a special envoy, a European Union special representative for the Gulf Area – the Gulf not the broader Middle East, not focus only on the peace process between Israel and Palestine, which is stalled unhappily, but on the broader Middle East, including all the countries in the Gulf, from Yemen to Iran, Syria and Iraq. Certainly I will propose this to the Council.  The Indo-Pacific region I have already talked about. Finally, because I don’t want to be any longer, the report by Ms Loiseau on CSDP. I think that there is a growing consensus on what we can say about strategic autonomy, and if you like, better strategic responsibility because at the end the responsibility of the Europeans is the strategic compact, which is nothing against NATO, but a way of making the European pillar inside NATO stronger. The stronger we will be, the stronger will be our alliance. That’s what I explained to the American Ambassador the other day in my office.  PESCO has launched 14 new projects. We have expanded our partnership, enabling the participation of Canada and the US, which is a very important step. We have launched in Mozambique a new military training and equipment mission, and we are thinking about developing the idea, the concept, of a coordinated maritime presence in the Gulf of Guinea and in the Indo-Pacific. There are many, many other issues to talk about. Thank you, Mr President, for your patience and for your attention. Let’s continue our discussion with your interventions.