EU Chief Diplomat Joseph Borrell told several European media, including EURACTIV, in an interview that European citizens want to be protected by the EU, which is why it must become a security provider.
“Europe must become a security provider because this is what European citizens want — to be protected by the EU,” Borrell said in Brussels when commenting on the first draft of the EU Strategic Compass, which is designed to guide security and the EU’s global strategy. Defense dimension.
“They want member states to improve their capabilities to increase efficiency, and they want to project Europe onto the world because they know that our security starts away from our borders and depends on the security of our partners,” he added.
The document aims to “revise the doctrine of the European Union” and will be submitted to the EU Foreign Minister for the first evaluation next week. The final version is expected to be approved by EU leaders during France’s presidency of the EU in March next year.
The threat analysis drafted by the EU’s diplomatic service EEAS and national security agencies is the first part of the EU’s new military strategy document, which aims to cover security risks and trends across the EU and the world.
“This is not another EU document, but a guide to action,” Borel emphasized.
When asked whether the blueprint is the lowest common denominator among member states, the veteran Spanish diplomat said: “For me, it is foolish to show a flightless plane.”
“No one can say that this is not a collective effort, but now it is up to member states to decide what our ambitions are,” he added.
Need for “strategic culture”
Speaking of the EU’s strategic autonomy, Borrell said, “This is about acting together with other countries where possible, but acting alone when necessary”, adding that this concept should be regarded as “strategic responsibility” “.
“Our threat analysis shows that we live in a more hostile world, our economic space is becoming more and more controversial, our strategic space is becoming more and more controversial, and our political space is becoming more and more degraded,” Borel said. Mention the ongoing crisis in the Polish-Belarusian border, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Sahel.
“Everything is weaponized-threats come from all over the world in very different ways-land, sea, they are mixed, network, classic-the world is no longer the same as before,” he said.
Draft seen by EURACTIV Including a series of new methods and means to increase resilience to mixed threats, including a commitment to create an EU rapid mixed response team to ensure cyber deterrence and address space risks and incidents.
“When everything is weaponized, it is certainly not enough to pretend to be just soft power-when we face a very conflict and dangerous strategic environment, the EU cannot just talk about human rights and trade,” Borrell said.
When asked about the advantages of the new strategy to member states facing external threats (such as Greece and Cyprus from Turkey), Borrell called on the EU to “establish a common strategic culture because threats are indivisible.”
“Europeans must be prepared to respond, but for any issue, they must agree on these rights and understand that everyone is affected,” Borrell said.
new force
One of the more controversial proposals in the blueprint is to establish a joint military intervention force called the “EU Rapid Deployment Capability” by 2025, with 5,000 soldiers, including land, air and sea forces.
After the Afghanistan crisis, EU ministers in the summer Ideas discussed In order to initially enter the power and the possibility of temporary military cooperation between interested member states, these member states have entered the proposal.
Borel said: “It is not the troops that determine the tasks, but the tasks should determine the troops,” Borel said, adding that the new troops should be allowed to deploy “to perform all tasks stipulated in the treaty”.
“The important thing is to have the ability to deploy, not based on a pre-established force that may not be suitable for its mission, but to have different modules that can be combined in order to face each specific challenge,” Borrell said. He added that this will include regular joint training and field exercises.
The EU’s chief diplomat said that an example might be the implementation of the UN ceasefire agreement in Libya.
“We know that the use of force cannot solve the problem, but we also know that the rest of the world believes that lack of military power is the source of weakness,” Borrell said.
Decision making
However, when talking about the EU’s decision-making process, Borrell admitted that the EU’s institutional settings are “definitely too rigid” and that the EU “must inject flexibility if it wants it to be ready to respond quickly to problems”.
Article 44 stipulates that within the framework of the EU treaty, the Council can delegate the tasks of the CSDP to a group of member states, the so-called “Union of Wills.”
“Once the EU decides to take action, it does not have to mobilize everyone. A group of member states can participate. But we must allow them to do this with a certain degree of flexibility. We cannot pass every step of the unanimous decision process.”
“I am not asking for a change in the rules, nor abolishing unanimous consent, because I know this is not the best way of doing things. Because to give up your unanimous consent, unanimous consent is required-and this will not happen. I believe in this system. The settings can be “flexible” for faster and better action,” Borrell said.
[Edited by Benjamin Fox]
