COFACC, Poslanecká sněmovna Parlamentu ČR, Praha dne 9. března 2009
COFACC
(Conference of Foreign Affairs Committee Chairpersons)
Statement delivered by
Alexandr Vondra, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs
Prague, 9 March 2009
Ladies and gentlemen,
I was asked to speak about the role of the EU in tackling current challenges of international policy. Let me begin by a quote: “Europe has never been so prosperous, so secure, nor so free. The violence of the first half of the 20th Century has given way to a period of peace and stability unprecedented in European history.” These are the first two sentences of the European security strategy from 2003. And flagrant proof of how quickly the world is changing.
– Today, the prosperity of Europe is shaken by the economic recession triggered by the financial crisis.
– Just a couple of months ago, the war in Georgia displayed with frightening clarity that frozen conflicts in our neighbourhood are all but frozen. The gas crisis in January this year showed how vulnerable we are in terms of energy security.
– And at the same time, the distribution of global power is changing. In the words of Zbigniew Brzezinski, “We are shifting away from the 500 years long domination of world history by the Atlantic powers. The Pacific region – Japan, China – is surfacing in the global hierarchy.“ Both our economic and diplomatic clout is relatively declining.
To quote just some examples mentioned in a recent essay by the Centre for European Reform:
– Developing countries now hold three quarters of global foreign reserves.
– The Doha Round has been stalled not so much because of the lack of EU-US commitment, but rather because developing countries Brazil and India had enough power to enforce their own goals in the trade liberalisation process.
– Last but not least, at the last UN conference to review the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in May 2005, the Western powers were unable to win over Iran and its allies and strengthen the NPT regime.
Now, what is the approach Europe should take in order to succeed in this new world? What do we need to make Europe more influential?
More strategic approach
Apart from Gymnichs, there is no EU forum in which governments and institutions can easily discuss foreign policy strategy. Given the large heterogeneity of national diplomatic traditions, political as well as economic interests, it is hard to reach consensus on EU´s foreign policy at regular GAERC meetings, the outcome of which is often reduced to the lowest common denominator. The lack of strategic thinking is then the main obstacle for the EU to prevent crises, rather than just manage them. In the world of the 21st century, this is a serious problem.
As I have already mentioned, we do have the European Security Strategy, agreed in 2003, which provides a useful framework for thinking, but given the dramatic evolution of the international environment, we need a new and updated document. While the implementation report by Javier Solana published in December 2008 was a great contribution, if we are to succeed in the new global order, we need a more prescriptive document which, in addition to taking stock of the progress made, forges coherent long-term strategies to specific issues and regions such as Russia, the Middle East or the European neighbourhood.
– Such a document could be a basis for reaching more coherence between the internal and external EU policies and removing the contradictions that sometimes exist between them.
– Such a document should be prepared in parallel with the new NATO strategic concept, and thus enable the EU and NATO to join up their policies in the pursuit of common goals.
– Last but not least, such a document should acknowledge that, no matter how different our particular traditions and interests are, the differences loose importance if you switch from local to global. From the global point of view, our interests converge and we MUST be able to agree on a couple of main strategic lines fundamental for our security and future prosperity.
Now what should be part of the strategy of the EU in the new world? It is not my intention to draw an exhausting list of issues in this restrained time framework. Let me just mention three overarching priorities – like three legs of a chair that enable it to stand:
1) More burden-sharing and more capable European defence
I fully subscribe to Monnet’s axiom ”Thought cannot be divorced from action”. The US war in Iraq may have tested to destruction the efficacy of unilateral military might. But events since 1989 have also shown that normative, or soft, power is an inadequate answer to conflict and disorder. Europe needs to accept more of the burden of action.
Over the last decade the European Security and Defence Policy has grown in experience and capability, with over 20 missions deployed in response to crises, ranging from post-tsunami peace building in Aceh to protecting refugees in Chad. The Lisbon Treaty will boost it even further. After Iraq, the EU should not expect the US to be ready to sort out all of the world´s trouble spots. The EU must be ready to share increasingly the responsibility for world security, like we already demonstrated in Bosnia and Afghanistan. Our main task is no longer to secure peace only inside Europe. The time is ripe to strengthen European defence and security by committing more financial resources, more military capacities and – most of all – more political will.
– Today, many EU countries do not meet NATO´s 2% of GDP requirement for defence spending. At the same time the cost of defence equipment is rising by 6-8% a year.
– Officially, the number of troops that the EU countries can deploy may be about 150 000. However, because of the need to rotate them, the number available at any one moment is only about 50 000.
– Last but not least, the troops ear-marked for a mission may fail to deliver because they lack crucial equipment, such as helicopters etc.
We have to duly address all of these challenges.
The ESDP will not become more effective unless the EU and NATO work much closer together. This brings me to the area where we are unfortunately lacking the progress that we were hoping for. I mean the strategic partnership between EU and NATO, which could have been unique and outstanding if it has not been blocked by differences between Greece, Cyprus and Turkey.
21 of the NATO members are also members of the European Union. The context of EU-NATO cooperation has changed in the last year. The US accepts ESDP, France intends to rejoin NATO´s military command. The time is perfect for a change and for EU to commit and contribute to world security side by side with NATO. To give you just the most recent example, we could send trainers of military police to Afghanistan before this summer, to complement the EUPOL civilian police mission and thus contribute to improving the security of the country. We discussed this initiative last week with the freshly appointed French Special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pierre Lellouche.
2) More attention should be paid to our neighborhood
It has become almost a cliché to say that enlargement is the most successful EU foreign policy instrument. Yet, it is true. So far, every EU enlargement has been a success. New members – no matter whether they were less or more economically developed, have always brought new opportunities and value-added to the club – economically, strategically as well as culturally.
The last enlargement extended the zone of stability and prosperity to 495 million Europeans, thus making us the world´s biggest integrated market with a quarter of the world´s spending power and one-third of the world´s GDP. It generated an additional yearly GDP growth of 0.5% in the old and 1.5% in the new Member States. The income per capita of the new Member States rose from 40% of the old Member States’ average in 1999 to 52% in 2008.
It is legitimate to expect that future enlargements harbour the same potential. Therefore, we need to stay committed – we need to face the growing enlargement fatigue and weaken the sharp contrast between public perceptions about the impact of the last rounds of enlargement and the assessment of it stemming from data that we have at hand. We need to stay on track with the Western Balkans and we need to continue talking to Turkey – not only because the cost of non-enlargement would be too high for them, but first of all, because it would be an excessive price to pay for ourselves. A truly continental Union that included predominantly Muslim countries would have more influence and be treated with more respect in many countries.
Of course, because enlargement is likely to move slowly, and because there are limits to how far EU frontiers can expand, the Union also needs a much stronger neighbourhood policy than it has today. Both the Mediterranean Union and the Eastern Partnership initiative, the birth of which the Czech Republic has contributed to and about which our Foreign Minister already spoke to you today, are steps in this direction.
3) More energy than ever should be invested into transatlantic cooperation
Today more than ever a vibrant transatlantic link is indispensable. No matter how deep the economic problems of the US, no single state or combination of states can replace the role the US plays currently in the world in the foreseeable future. The EU´s close ties with the US, and its potential to influence American policy, are a source of its strength in other parts of the world. Today, a new administration is in place, reassessing the foreign policy of the country. The more the EU shows itself to be a useful and effective partner, the greater the say we will have in global affairs. Be it the Middle East, Iran, Caucasus, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan – or energy security, climate change or the world financial architecture – we must work together to be part of the solutions. Strategic dialogue must be launched on all these issues – at the G20, in NATO, but also at the EU-US informal summit in early April this year. It is an honour for the Czech Republic to be in the Presidency office at these exciting times.
An economically strong Europe
If we agree on a foreign policy strategy, the basic precondition for the EU to enforce it is an economically strong Europe. The current crisis is indeed a challenge in this respect. Not that I would have doubts about the ability of Europe to recover – we have succeeded in doing that so many times in the past… My fear stems from:
a) the risk of internal divisions. Economic egoisms and protectionism lead to foreign-policy egoism. Economic and political interests are closely interconnected.
b) loss of reform drive in the EU. A dynamic European economy requires an economic reform agenda that prioritises innovation and stronger competition policy. With the current recession, many countries are tempted to go in the opposite direction.
To overcome this particular risk, there is a very specific thing that the Czech presidency can and will do: namely to maintain a careful balance during the implementation of the Economic Recovery Plan between the short-term measures supposed to boost demand, save jobs and help restore confidence on one hand (fiscal stimulus amounting to 1.5% of GDP), and the „smart investment“ meant to yield higher growth and sustainable prosperity in the longer-term on the other hand.
To put it more provocatively, rescuing jobs won´t rescue the economy. Supporting companies might harm innovation. We should take care that the Recovery Plan generates not only a short-term, ephemeral effect, but that it lays a sound basis for a healthy and competitive European economy in the long-run. In order to achieve that:
I. The Plan has to remain firmly anchored in a medium- and long-term structural framework, such as the Lisbon Strategy. We should also come back to sound fiscal policies as soon as possible. Respecting the revised Stability and Growth Pact is of crucial importance.
II. We should put emphasis on those instruments of the Recovery Plan that generate medium- to long-term added value. Let´s boost SME´s, who are the drivers of European innovation. If we subsidise innovation, let´s do it with attention for SME´s and new entrants. Let´s push for better regulation. Let´s increase investment in research and development. Let´s support innovation in manufacturing, in particular in the construction industry and the automobile sector – for example by improving energy-efficiency in buildings. The Recovery Plan provides for all these instruments and many others.
Conclusion
I began my statement with a quote, let me finish with one, too: Timothy Garton Ash wrote in 2004: “The old Atlantic-centred West, which has been shaping the world since about 1500, probably has no more than 20 years left in which it will still be the main world shaper. That´s another reason why it´s so stupid for Europeans and Americans to waste any more time squabbling with each other. In a longer historical perspective this may be our last chance to set the agenda of world politics.”
Ladies and gentlemen, the challenge is great. Let´s work hand in hand to make Europe succeed in it. I can hardly imagine an auditorium better equipped for that.
Thank you for your attention.