In their election manifestos, most European parties - the Party of the European Left (PEL), the Party of European Socialists (PES), the Greens, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the European People's Party (EPP) and the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) - support the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the EU, but are divided over Turkey.
"We are working to make the accession of the Western Balkan countries possible, on the basis of European values", the Greens promise. "We support an increased strategic engagement of the EU in its neighbourhood and the prospect of future enlargement for the countries of the Western Balkans and their common European neighbourhood, once these countries have fulfilled the accession criteria", announces the ALDE, leaving the door open for further accessions beyond those of the Balkan countries. The EPP also announces support for the "concrete European perspective of the Western Balkans", adding that the EU cannot allow these countries to fall under the "authoritarian" influence of Russia, the Gulf States, Turkey and China.
In contrast, the Christian Democrats are strongly opposed to Turkey's accession to the EU. According to their manifesto, the negotiations must be brought to an end and focus on partnership and cooperation in concrete areas "EU membership is therefore not an option for Turkey and negotiations must be stopped", the EPP document insists.
The PEL, the only other party to mention Turkey in its manifesto, is more vague. It only states that the EU must be ready to "reflect constructively on its relations with Turkey and be ready to open its doors" to the country and, at the same time, demand "the end of the imperial plan of Erdoğan to Islamise social and political life".
The PES and ACRE manifestos do not mention enlargement.
Neighbourhood. The parties are also interested in the neighbourhood. For the EPP, it is necessary to create "strong partnerships with our neighbours" and "to get closer to those who share our European perspective". Christian Democrats intend to invest in a prosperous and stable neighbourhood with the objective of "exporting stability and creating a belt of prosperity and security around Europe".
The Greens want to deepen cooperation with Eastern partners while, for the PEL, "we must establish lasting good neighbourly relations with the Middle East, the Middle East and North Africa".
Foreign policy. More generally, in foreign policy, the parties - apart from ACRE, which does not mention it - defend multilateralism and the defence of European values at the international level and, for the most part (the EPP says nothing about it), the reform of the United Nations. The ALDE even goes so far as to support the creation of a seat for the EU on the United Nations Security Council.
In their manifestos, the Greens and the PEL also emphasise human rights. For the Greens, the EU must "also be able to defend and fully rely on its foreign policy instruments when human rights and the environment are threatened". Thus, it must be much more active in the search for peaceful solutions to armed conflicts.
During a Spitzenkandidaten debate in Florence, the green candidate, Ska Keller, called for the creation of a 'European Arms Export Agency' to check whether Member States comply with the guidelines for exporting arms. "Europe must not seek to profit from the unscrupulous export of weapons and surveillance technologies to dictatorship or belligerent regimes", the Greens warn in their manifesto. The EMP goes further and calls for "an immediate halt to the production and export of European weapons of war".
The European left, as a defender of "peace and political dialogue, as opposed to violence and military coercion", also promotes the suspension of the Union's association agreements with countries that "massively violate fundamental rights or occupy disputed territories, including Israel and Morocco". This possibility already exists, but is not used.
The PES and ALDE warn against the United States of Donald Trump and Russia of Vladimir Putin. While the PES programme does not mention it, its candidate, Frans Timmermans, clearly pointed to the threats posed by the United States, "with a president who believes that a divided and weak Europe is in his interest", and Russia, who "tries to weaken European democracies". "These are the greatest threats to our security", he said. The ALDE also considers that an "aggressive Russia" and a "weakening of support for transatlantic friendship in the White House" are challenges that the EU must face.
While ACRE warns against an "increasingly self-confident Russia", for the EMP, "Europe needs a new comprehensive peace and security system based on dialogue and not a ‘cold war’ type confrontation with Russia".
Institutional organisation. Finally, from an institutional point of view, if the EPP and ALDE defend the proposal of the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, to move to qualified majority voting on foreign policy issues (see EUROPE 12094/4), the PES candidate, without giving his opinion, considers that such a move would not solve all the problems. "Qualified majority voting is not the solution to our problem", Timmermans said.
And while ALDE advocates strengthening the European External Action Service and the High Commissioner for EU Foreign and Security Policy, ACRE calls for a review of the EEAS and a cost-benefit analysis of the EU Agencies, including the possibility of financing them from sources outside the EU budget. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)