Brussels, 22/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - The report by four think tanks on the European global strategy for foreign policy will be presented in May, the Swedish and Polish foreign ministers, Carl Bildt and Radoslaw Sikorski, announced on 21 February at a European Parliament press conference. “We will see what it contains and we will certainly hold discussions using the report as the starting point. These discussions are important in themselves for putting the different strategic cultures of the member states together so that at the Council, along with the parliaments (European and national), we can formulate a more coherent strategic approach for the decades to come”, Bildt said.
Bildt said that the initiative aimed to update and discuss the strategic direction of European policy as a global actor, taking into account the opportunities, challenges, threats and functions. “We need to better prepare Europe for the globalised world with all its changes”, he said. Sikorski stated that the debate ought to allow practical ideas to be obtained in order to be more effective with limited financial resources. It should also enable the high representative for foreign affairs to be given a clearer mandate.
The work on the European global strategy is being led by four think tanks - l'Istituto Affari Internazionali (Italy), the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, the Elcano Royal Instititue (Spain) and the Polish Institute of International Affairs. The start of the work was launched by the Swedish, Polish, Italian and Spanish ministers in July 2012. (CG/transl.fl)