Brussels, 10/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Rome on Tuesday 9 February, the foreign affairs ministers of the six founding countries of the EU - Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - called upon the other member states to reaffirm their strong commitment in favour of the European project.
“We declare and reconfirm a strong commitment to Europe and the European project and invite all other member states to join” us, they stress in a joint communiqué entitled 'Charting the way ahead. An EU Founding Members' initiative on strengthening Cohesion in the European Union”. Although they are “concerned about the state of the European project”, the ministers stress that they “firmly believe that the European Union remains the best answer we have for today's challenges and allows for different paths of integration”, which suggests that the heads of diplomacy are giving their blessing to a Europe of different levels. “We remain resolved to continue the process of creating an ever closer union among the people of Europe”, they add. The ministers stress that Europe is successful when it is able to overcome “narrow” self-interest in the spirit of solidarity. “We have to be ready to strive for European solutions. The EU is much more than the sum of its 28 member states”, they warn.
The Six emphasise the refugee crisis, stressing that the priority is “fully” to implement common decisions “with efficiency and humanity” and that better management of the external borders of the Union is vital to make them safer, without limiting the fluidity of movement or the Schengen acquis. “Europe needs a balanced and geographically comprehensive approach, based on solidarity and responsibility”, they explain. In the view of these heads of diplomacy, it is also vital to reinforce overall cooperation with the countries of origin and of transit.
The six ministers also confirmed the need to further reinforce the fight against terrorist threats, fully in line with human rights and the rule of law.
As regards the role that the Union is called upon to perform as a global player, the ministers argue that the new global strategy on foreign and security policy will provide the Union with an “updated vision and effective tools for boosting its action”. “It will emphasise the importance of the European security and defence policy at the core of the European commitments for peace and stability in the world”, they state, adding that a democratic, stable and prosperous neighbourhood is a strategic priority of the EU and very much in its interests.
The next meeting of the group of six is expected to be held in late April or early May in Brussels, according to the Belgian minister Didier Reynders, quoted by Belga. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)