After focusing in 2020 on the notion of resilience and the first lessons to be learned from the Covid-19 pandemic (see EUROPE 12756/22), this year the European Commission focused on how the European Union can strengthen its strategic autonomy while remaining open to the world.
“We have identified ten areas where EU action could significantly increase this open strategic autonomy”, Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič told a few journalists on Tuesday 7 September, on the eve of the presentation of the EU institution’s 2021 outlook report.
He listed these areas where the EU institution recommends concrete actions to be taken: - health and the food chain; - technologies to decarbonise the economy; - data management, artificial intelligence; - disruptive technologies (e.g. blockchain, energy storage); - the setting of internationally recognised standards, or “the Brussels effect”, as Mr Šefčovič put it; - financial systems; - investment in skills and talent; - security, defence and space; - global partnerships; - the consolidation of public institutions.
The Vice-President was pleased that the foresight tool, designed to identify underlying trends, was beginning to become part of the programming culture of member states. After Spain, France, Greece, Finland and Austria will produce a specific report. The Commission’s annual outlook report is also used to inform President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the EU speech, taking place on Wednesday 15 September in Strasbourg.
Asked about shortages in the supply of critical raw materials, Mr Šefčovič referred to the alliance launched on electric batteries, whose production in Europe will have to be more environmentally friendly (see EUROPE 12620/13), and the one on semiconductors (see EUROPE 12765/11). Underwater and space exploration will be the “new frontier” in this field, he said.
On the issue of pressure on democratic bodies, the Commission’s 2021 report takes a global approach that goes beyond the EU itself. It notes that over the past 15 years there has been a trend towards a decline in democratic values around the world.
“Thirty-four percent of the world’s population lives in a country where the situation of democracy is getting worse”, Šefčovič noted, moreover, referring to the storming of the Capitol by supporters of former US President Donald Trump (see EUROPE 12631/7).
But there are also events in the EU that call for vigilance, such as the interference of third countries in the German election campaign. “This is also the discussion we have with our Polish and Hungarian friends”: the media must be free to express themselves and the judiciary must remain independent, Šefčovič added. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)