News
Europe Programme - [04/04/2008]
The European Union's external relations. European Breakfast with Eneko Landáburu, Director General of External Relations, European Commission
14 March, 2008
The Director General of External Relations of the EU presented his summary of the Union's external activity at present by declaring that it was in a state of transition, moving from an External Relations based on economic and commercial issues to a true external policy. He pointed out that the world perceives Europe’s identity as a reference model in terms of democracy, security, prosperity and regional integration. He added that Europe's global impact - even though it is a “soft power” - stands out for its leadership as a trading partner, as well as being the main donor to Development Aid. However, he stressed that the EU is still not a political actor owing to the internal divisions of its members; as examples, he mentioned the war in Iraq and the case of Kosovo.
Landáburu highlighted the importance of the innovations contained in the Lisbon Treaty in pushing forward Europe's external policy. The post of the High Representative - which has been merged with that of Commissioner of External Relations, and raised to Vice President of the Commission - will provide a vertical coherence to unify criteria with other commissioners (Trade Policy, Cooperation, Energy, etc.), and a horizontal one with the policy on Security and Defence. Furthermore, it will provide visibility at a ministerial level. The new external service, he added, will make better resources available.
For the EU to complete the long journey toward becoming a global actor, he said, it would require greater reflection and analysis on the part of Europe's leaders with respect to which priorities and strategies to follow. He believes that even though the ideal situation would be to move forward in terms of communitarisation, strengthened cooperations (the cutting edge of countries wanting to advance) represent an intermediate solution.
With respect to the recent summit for EU heads of state (at which the main issue was the project of the Union for the Mediterranean through which Sarkozy aimed to re-launch relations with Europe's southern neighbours, and which ended up by becoming integrated into the Barcelona Process owing to German opposition), Landáburu declared that the Commission would accept any initiative capable of creating added value for the existing structures (Neighbourhood Policy and the Barcelona Process). Clarifying any doubts about the Commission's differences with the French leader's initiative, he noted that Sarkozy is more Europeist than Chirac.
The Director of External Relations also spoke about the Union's geographical limits, which are still imprecise owing to the ambiguity of the negotiating process over Turkey's EU membership, to which France is opposed, after having supported it during Chirac's presidency. He pointed out that this country, which represents a bridge with the Muslim world, has made great progress, and that the European Union should think long and hard about the matter, and send out a clearer message, given the real and serious danger that Turkey might end up by fulfilling all the conditions for membership, only for this membership to be rejected owing to a political decision. In his opinion, this would bring about a serious crisis, not only with Turkey but in the surrounding region. He added that if the political context is not favourable, alternatives should be sought without ruling out any possibility (including that of membership) in the future.
Finally, on relations with the United States, Landáburu said that the EU should seek closer relations given that, in his opinion, Europe and the US share the same values (defence of democracy and human rights); however, he pointed out that this should not prevent the EU from disagreeing with or having differences with US government policy. As an example, he mentioned the distance that separates the two sides in negotiations on the use of information for the fight against terrorism. He added that out of the three candidates, Hillary Clinton could be the best choice, owing to her experience and knowledge of international problems.
