Global Europe

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s decision to stay away from this week’s meeting in Hanoi of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) deprives her of a vital personal opportunity to participate in Southeast Asia’s largest and most influential talk-fest on regional security challenges, including North Korea and Burma/Myanmar.

Battered by the economic crisis and bogged down in Afghanistan, European governments seem to be turning their back on foreign and security issues. Germany proposes to cut its defence budget by €9 billion. The new British government rejects notions of an “ethical foreign policy”, urging diplomats to embrace a “new commercialism” overseas instead.

It looks as if on July 8 -- the last day before the summer break of the legislative session -- the European Parliament (EP) will cast its vote on the Draft Council Resolution on establishing the European External Action Service (EEAS). This will raise the prospects that the service could become operational around the end of the year and engage for what is badly needed: helping the EU to shape a better, more coherent and consistent foreign and security policy.

The European Union was supposed to abolish internal geopolitics through the establishment of pan-European institutions predicated on ‘civilian power’. However, this has delivered Europeans into a nasty trap: we still rely on the United States to provide the ultimate guarantee for our security, through its nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers and air squadrons. Yet as America’s geostrategic focus shifts further away from Europe in response to events since 2001, what will Europeans do? In short, the continent’s main powers have been positioning themselves to fill the vacuum left by the United States. Unless the United Kingdom – of all powers – steps in to moderate this process in the interests of security, the European Union will be undermined, leading to general geopolitical disorder across our continent.

Monday's inter-institutional deal in Madrid on the External Action Service (EAS) should clear the path for Catherine Ashton to move forward in setting up the EU's new foreign policy machinery before the end of the year. The European Parliament is expected to give the green light at its July meeting in Strasbourg.

Few had predicted the natural gas market to change as dramatically as it did. In the past, discussions focused primarily on whether there would be enough investments in new natural gas fields to meet the future insatiable demand and on how to deal with rising gas prices. Instead, the gas market is now characterised by a significant glut and depressed prices, leaving countries such as Algeria calling for co-ordinated cuts in natural gas production á la OPEC by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in order to prop up market rates.

Norway is the EU’s closest and most reliable partner in foreign affairs and security policy, supporting EU diplomacy and contributing to EU crisis management operations and stand-by forces. And yet, it remains excluded from respective decision taking. Its influence is primarily based on informal contacts – notwithstanding political dialogue meetings – and limited to the decision shaping process.

Expect European Union policymakers at the second summit with Pakistan today (June 4) to make the right political noises on upgrading relations and building a "comprehensive partnership for peace and development". Such pledges are important. It's time, however, to move from intention to action.

Latin American leaders have given Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero a short break after what has been undoubtedly his worst week since coming to power six years ago. Immersed in a gloomy collective mood following the announcement of stringent measures to reduce public expenditure and a ballooning deficit, Spaniards witnessed last week the gathering of several Latin American presidents in Madrid for a series of pow-wows, amongst them the EU-Latin America and Caribbean Summit.

As the EU moves towards finalising details of the External Action Service (EAS), it should consider a more active role for the European Parliament (EP) and national parliaments.