On Monday 13 May, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called for greater strategic responsibility on the part of the EU in view of the global geopolitical situation.
“Europe has to increase its strategic responsibility”, he stressed in a speech at Stanford University in the United States, arguing that this was not a “luxury” but “essential” in order to protect the European way of life and its values. “We have to learn to speak the language of power, which is not just military”, he explained, while calling on Europeans to spend more of the common resources allocated to defence and to spend them better. “It’s easy to say, but difficult to implement”, said Mr Borrell.
The High Representative added that the EU needs to use all the tools at its disposal and build the political will to use them in order to meet the world’s challenges.
According to Mr Borrell, there are “at least three main reasons” why the EU needs to redefine its position in relation to the international system: a high degree of competitiveness between the major powers, the decline of the European economy’s share in the global economy and the dramatic change in the security landscape, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The High Representative felt that the EU could suffer collateral damage from the competition between the United States and China, “which will be one of the most important factors in international relations over the coming decades”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)