The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, explained on Friday 1 October that the EU’s strategic autonomy had “nothing to do with NATO”.
In his view, a complementary military capability was needed to make NATO stronger and more balanced. “What is missing, is a better political balance within NATO. If that were there, what happened in Afghanistan and the Pacific could have been avoided”, said Mr Borrell in a discussion at the World Policy Conference in Abu Dhabi, at which he argued for a strengthening of Europe’s own capacity to act in the world.
According to Mr Borrell, if a “European army is utopian”, the individual capabilities of the Member States must be supplemented by European capabilities. Moreover, there is “no alternative to NATO for the territorial defence of Europe”, he warned.
Moreover, Europe is undergoing a type of strategic shrinkage, the High Representative warned. “If we want to be a hub” in this multi-hub world, “we must fight against this force that pushes us to shrink within our immediate environment. We need to have a presence throughout the world, but to do so, we must have the desire”, he said.
The High Representative also regretted the lack of unity in European foreign policy “over virtually all European issues”. When asked about the end of unanimity, Mr Borrell argued in favour of such a measure, while also acknowledging that this would not happen in the short term. “Everybody will be attached to veto rights. For me much better to have the capability to decide by qualified majority, and would be a big incentive for people to engage in discussion. If you know that without you nobody can do anything, you stay in your corner, you don’t need to participate in the debate”, he explained, adding that this was not the way to deal with the geopolitical problems in the world. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)