Javier Solana: The EU must become a pillar of a new world

[Paschall]

An editorial by the EU High Represenative for Common Foreign and Security Policy (in French).

To exert greater influence in a multilateral world, Solana says, the European Union has set three objectives:

- Extend the security zone around Europe through a "circle of good governance," on the Union's eastern frontier from the Balkans the Caucasus, and around the Mediterranean.

- Encourage the emergence of a new, more stable, more equitable international order, and make multilateral institutions more effective. In short, to be prepared to act when the United Nations Charter is violated.

- Improve the Union's ability to respond to threats through a systematic policy of preventive engagement, in Macedoinia, the Congo, Bosnia, or Southern Caucasus for example. Also through a better grasp of the distance and complexity of these threats—-"consider for a moment the links between poppy farming in Afghanistan and the attacks of Sept. 11."

To reach these goals, the Union will be taking action in three areas:

- To strengthen its military and civil capabilities, and to increase its cooperation with its major partners. The 25 EU states have a total defense budget of 160 billion euros; they should be able to spend this money better.

- To improve EU synergy: the EU is the only regional organization that has such a wide range of political, diplomatic, humanitarian, economic, financial, law enforcement, and military tools at its disposal. It's crucial that they be put to best use.

- To strengthen its relationships with its strategic partners. Improved cooperation with them is the key to effective multilateralism. Solana lists NATO ("irreplacable"), Russia, China, Japan, India, and Latin America. He also urges stronger ties between Europe and the Middle East and Africa--"which is poorer today than it was ten years ago"--, to support them in their struggle for stability and development.

http://www.lemonde.fr/article/0,5987,3232--334982-,00.html

[WheresWaldo]

1. great post...

I wonder how he feels about Kofi Annan's calls for reform of the Sec. Council's P-5.

[Paschall]

2. He says he support's Annan's call for reform

He mentions Annan's remarks and says he immediately throws his support to one of Annan's proposals "among others": defining common challenges to better guarantee our system of collective security; and identifying common threats to be better able to confront them (while continuing to meet the challenges of poverty, hunger, and the great pandemic diseases).

The Union, he states, "fully shares" these ambitions and wants to contribute actively to the strengthening and reorganization of world governance and regional cooperation, as well as to extending the application of international law.