Strasbourg, 15/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 15 February, the French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, who was speaking of the importance of stabilisation in the EU's greater southern and continental neighbourhood, told the European Parliament's committee on foreign affairs that they were mistaken if they believed that stability and counter-terrorism could justify complacency towards regimes flouting human rights.
Juppé also pressed for deepening and integration in order to overcome the debt crisis and to get back on the road to growth. Member states, he stressed, need more Europe. He explained that it is necessary to consolidate the 27-member Europe but also those leading the way to additional integration.
France's foreign minister also specified that the EU must reflect on how it can intervene in globalisation in respect to the large emerging nations. France calls on the EU high representative and on her services to take the structuring of dialogue forward between the EU and its key partners in a concern for reciprocity. It is necessary, he said, to stop considering that asymmetrical opening is beneficial in itself. (CG/transl.jl)