On Wednesday 12 December, the Parliament supported the European Commission President's proposal to move to qualified majority voting in certain areas of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
“Qualified majority voting would enable the Union to act more resolutely, quickly and effectively”, justifies the report by David McAllister (EPP, Germany) that Parliament adopted (401 votes in favour, 173 against and 73 abstentions).
In view of Brexit, MEPs believe that “creative solutions must be sought for future EU-UK cooperation on CFSP and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)”.
According to the Parliament, the EU should make more effective use of the instruments at its disposal and have ‘hard power’ tools with adequate resources and capabilities, including in the military field.
The EU should also consider a “less for less” policy for countries whose governance, democracy and human rights are in decline, the Parliament added, stating that “no agreement between the EU and third countries should be ratified until the human rights benchmarks are met”.
The Parliament also advocates strengthening the EU's internal resilience to external interference, as threats, including “online and offline misinformation campaigns, Russian attempts to conduct cyber attacks and intervene during elections” require a "rapid and coordinated response". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)