Brussels, 22/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - At the annual conference of the Institute of EU Security Studies in Paris on Thursday 22 September, Javier Solana discussed the three big challenges for the EU in the next few years, namely helping make the multilateral system more effective; taking more action abroad based on genuine European interests; and managing to convey to the rest of the world the system of values that characterises Europeans so well. He said that in any human venture, the general interest is not found by simply adding up individual interests, and the same went for the EU. European interests go beyond the interests of its member states. But with the little added extra that characterises the European project, the desire of living together in peace and security with the capacity, where possible, of generating the same desire round about, said the EU High Representative for CFSP. He stressed that the identification of a common European interest also applied in connection with strategic partners like Russia, without which it would not be possible to fully resolve the question of Kosovo or the conflict in the Middle East, or energy issues. Solana said the treaty would allow the EU to be ready to roll - by unifying the EU's foreign representation and rationalising the use of the EU's resources. He stressed the complex nature of the enterprise, adding that nobody should expect a big bang. Time should be seen as a natural ally, he said. (O.J.)