The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, championed European solidarity with the EU’s most vulnerable partner countries as part of the global response to the new coronavirus, but also in the “fight against disinformation”, during a debate on Thursday 18 June on the repercussions of the pandemic on the EU’s external relations.
Josep Borrell pointed out that more than 35 billion euros had already been mobilised by the EU to help the most vulnerable countries in Africa, Latin America and the neighbourhood (see EUROPE 12501/5). He called on MEPs to support the additional €10.5 billion earmarked for external action in the revised budget proposal for 2021-2027.
Beyond the economic and health impact of the pandemic, MEPs felt that the scale of this crisis, which has upset the global geopolitical balance, called for a repositioning of the EU to give itself the means to be a major player on the international stage.
Deterioration of democracy, disinformation, cyber-attacks, isolationism are unprecedented threats that require a multilateral and co-ordinated response, said David McAllister (EPP, Germany). He expressed his conviction that the EU’s strategic autonomy must be strengthened and multilateralism promoted.
“The pandemic has tested the Commission’s ambition for the EU to be a ‘powerful’ player”, said Malik Azmani (Renew Europe, Netherlands). “What is happening on the border between China and India”, he said, requires “the EU to act quickly as a powerful global player”.
Believing that “China has not behaved like a partner”, Marco Dreosto (ID, Italy) called on the EU to call for an international investigation to understand the causes and origins of the pandemic.
The GUE/NGL group criticised military spending, saying that it was not being used to deal with the crisis and that what was at stake in the post-crisis period was human rights above all. For the Greens/EFA, the EU must fight “for our values, our interests, which means looking for allies”.
In the face of accelerating tensions between the United States and China, “the EU must find its own way. But independence does not mean equidistance of all partners”, Borrell said, stressing the importance of transatlantic relations, even if there are “some differences with the US Administration”, he said.
To those who criticised him for being too lenient with China, he replied: “Relations with China cannot be placed in a single category” given the complexity of relations with that country.
In his view, these relationships must be based on trust, transparency and reciprocity. “China is clearly an indispensable partner in addressing global issues such as the pandemic and climate change, but human rights remain a contentious issue”, he said. This is reflected in the National Security Act in Hong Kong (see other news). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)