On Wednesday 18 October, the representatives of the main political groups in the European Parliament called for the establishment of a genuine geopolitical Europe, which requires a sovereign Europe.
“A geopolitical Europe is a laudable ambition, but we need to start giving ourselves the means to achieve it”, said Nathalie Loiseau (Renew Europe, French). “A sovereign and independent Europe? For the moment, there are words but no deeds”, denounced Emmanuel Maurel (The Left, French).
“Our borders are on fire. We Europeans must act decisively if we want to have a role to play internationally”, said Sven Simon (German), speaking on behalf of the EPP. For Jordi Salé (Greens/EFA, Spain), it is “not possible to build a geopolitical Europe if we cannot agree on priorities”.
For Stéphane Séjourné (Renew Europe, French), power is based on three elements: the method - speaking with one voice -, the tools and the skills, particularly with the end of the unanimity rule. Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D, French), for his part, stressed the need to remedy the EU’s dependencies. “The challenge is to become a continent that produces our security, strategic goods and energy”, he explained, adding that it was necessary to “get away from the dependencies that undermine” Europe.
Conversely, on behalf of ID, Anders Vistisen (Danish) felt that the EU should be an area of trade and commerce, and that foreign policy should be left “to those capable of managing it”.
Stressing the EU’s united message on Ukraine, MEPs denounced the European Commission’s cacophonies and mishaps in Nagorno-Karabakh, Kosovo and the Middle East.
Taking part in the debate, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said that a geopolitical culture needed to be developed. In his view, after Ukraine, the Middle East is a second opportunity for the EU to assert itself as a geopolitical player. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)