The EU Military Committee chaired by
General de Rousiers, issued a special edition of their e-newsletter
featuring an interview with the High Representative of the Union for
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the European Commission
Federica Mogherini.
1. Your
Excellency, could you explain the role of your assignment to our readers?
The changes we have seen around us in
recent years – the growing intensity, frequency and complexity of threats and
risks, as well as the opportunities that a globalized, interconnected world
presents – they demand of the European Union an active, constructive and
empowered presence on the international stage.
This is what our citizens expect
of us as well, in a world where our values are being challenged and our
security cannot be taken for granted. I take this as my main responsibility: to
use all the potential that the EU has, all our tools, all our policies, all our
strength, in a coordinated and coherent way.
A big part of my job as High
Representative is coordinating the foreign policy of our 28 Member States: work
we do not just with all European Foreign Ministers, but also with the Ministers
of Defence, Development and sometimes even of Interior affairs.
The EU has been deploying its personnel in crisis zones for more than ten years. We are currently running five military and eleven civilian missions on three continents; 7000 women and men are deployed under the EU flag, working and often taking risks, for peace and stability.
The EU has been deploying its personnel in crisis zones for more than ten years. We are currently running five military and eleven civilian missions on three continents; 7000 women and men are deployed under the EU flag, working and often taking risks, for peace and stability.
Complex threats call for coordinated
responses, using military and civilian tools, as well as longer-term financial
and development instruments in a comprehensive way. Responding to emergencies
is crucial, but we also need to think strategically, prevent rather than simply
react to crises, work on their root causes.
Think of the situation in the
Mediterranean. After the tragedy that cost the lives of so many migrants in
April, the European Council asked us to act against the human traffickers'
networks, to save more lives. Within two months we set up and launched the
EUNAVFOR Med operation, thanks to a great teamwork and to the contribution of
the EU's military staff here in Brussels. Still, the operation is only a part
of the effort we are putting together and that has been going on over the past
months. We cannot be blind to what happens before these men and women get to
the Mediterranean shores. We cannot ignore the reasons why they leave their
countries. And, when they knock on our door, we need to answer the question on
how to welcome them here in Europe.
"Comprehensive approach" may
sound like a somehow obscure phrase, but this is what it means in practice. As
Vice President of the European Commission I am coordinating all Commissioners
whose portfolio can impact on our common foreign policy – and we are finding
out that this means potentially all Commissioners, as there is no field of work
that nowadays is purely internal. It’s a team that is capable of dealing with
trade, development, humanitarian aid but also energy, counterterrorism, climate
and migration.
The EU is not just a big free trade area:
we are a foreign policy community, a security and defence provider. For our own
people – within our borders and in the rest of the world. And we are ready to
take more responsibility to bring security and stability in our part of the
world, together with our neighbours and our global partners.
2. You
mentioned threats, could you elaborate on that?
Over the past few years the security
situation in the EU's direct neighbourhood has deteriorated significantly. The
intensity, frequency and complexity of conflicts and crises in the
neighbourhood have increased. The speed with which this has happened is perhaps
the most unsettling element.
To the east, the illegal annexation of
Crimea and the destabilisation of Eastern Ukraine are a fundamental breach of
basic principles underpinning Europe's security order.
To the south, the rise of Da'esh
represents an unprecedented threat, and conflict has become a common feature.
An ongoing fight for regional hegemony has fostered a number of civil conflicts
and proxy wars.
In addition, the linkages between external
and internal security are now evident to all. So, threats are looming large on
the radar of the EU, national governments and our citizens.
The demand for the EU to act as a
provider of security will continue to increase. We will only be able to adequately
respond to this demand if we make our common foreign policy more effective, and
if we make sure we dispose of the right kind of defence capabilities, supplied
by a solid industrial base.
3.
2015 will be a pivotal year for development. How are you envisaging
policy coherence between CFSP/CSDP and EU development policy?
Indeed, this is the European Year of
Development – a political signal for how important this policy is for the EU
institutions and Member States, and an opportunity to better contribute to
making our world a fairer and safer one. The EU is the biggest aid donor
but we aspire to be more than a donor: we want to be a partner and a champion
of positive change. This is especially important in this age, when the lack of
development is such a direct shortcut to instability, displacement, conflict
and suffering.
In its goal to promote development,
stability and security, the EU has taken an approach that makes us rather
exceptional and has exceptional potential – a comprehensive approach. It brings
together all our policy tools in a targeted way in our effort to tackle the
root causes of poverty and instability.
On this note, I want to share my pride and
admiration with the staff of the EU's ongoing eleven civilian missions and five
military operations. They help partner countries build a safe and secure
environment where the seeds of our development support can grow. And they do it
under the European flag. We tend to forget how indispensable this work is.
We want to build on it. Here I want to
highlight my proposal which has the potential to bring together our development
support and our security assistance in countries plagued by conflict – the
initiative to train and equip partners to tackle security challenges. We want
to go this way, because there can be no development without security, as there
can be no security without development.
4.
Could you highlight the relevance of partnership for CSDP?
The scale and complexity of the crises we
face tell us that we cannot hope to be successful without a global network of
partners sharing our interests and values.
From security to climate change, from
poverty to energy security – we face global challenges. It is no time for
lonely superpowers. The only alternative to the current global disorder is a
cooperative world order, a multilater approach.
This can only be based on a global network
of partnerships. In the area of CSDP, partnership is already showing its
results and its potential. The EU could not have conducted successfully over 30
missions and operations without the valuable contributions from some 45 partner
countries. Let me just bring forward the example of the Atalanta naval
operation against piracy off the Horn of Africa: it brought down pirates'
attacks from 163 in 2009 to just two last year, and it did so thanks to our
close cooperation with a broad network of regional and international partners.
That is why we are working to forge closer
relationships with the countries and organisations that share our concerns and
aspirations - from nations where we are helping to bring about security and
peace through strategic partners to organisations such as the UN, NATO and
regional bodies such as the African Union.
Another good example is the initiative to
work more closely with the UN – which we discussed with Secretary-General Ban
Ki Moon during his recent visit to the EU institutions. And Member States have
just agreed on a new action plan to enhance EU support to UN peacekeeping.
Finally, hybrid risks and our ambition to
strengthen our capabilities through CSDP compel us to collaborate more closely
with NATO. And the EU will continue to strengthen its cooperation with the
Alliance, including on the so-called emerging threats, and very concretely on
countering hybrid warfare.
5.
What is the future you envisage for the external action instruments?
A future where the EU's external action
instruments are more and more efficient in helping make our world a better
place for
ourselves and our children. But this vision can only be realised if
it is a shared one, based on a shared assessment of the
challenges and opportunities we face.
And this is one of my priorities right
now. As you know, in December 2013 the European Council asked
the HRVP to "assess the impact of changes in the global environment".
We are currently in the process of elaborating a new
Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy for release in 2016.
Let me share a few core ideas with you.
My ambition is to use our external action
instruments in a more comprehensive way, not only in crisis contexts - a joined-up approach should be the motif
of our foreign policy across the board. We should be ready to react to crises,
but we should not be events-driven: we need a consistent strategy,
withclear objectives,
a clear assessment of our resources, clear
priorities. And finally, we need to realise that the old debate
on "national interests vs the European interest" does not make any
sense in today's world. Our external action instruments
should all be mobilized towards shared goals. It will not be a
real strategy if it won't be common, if it won't be European.
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