European Union’s shared vision for common action

From left to right: EU Environment commissioner Karmenu Vella, Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipilae meet to open the first Arctic event of the EU in Oulu, Finland on June 15, 2017. PHOTO | TOMO HEIKKALA | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The Global Strategy has stood to the test of time in a very dense year.
  • Today, the EU is perceived as a strong and indispensable partner for peace, security and human development worldwide.

We have lived through an eventful year in Europe and beyond.

If I think back to June last year, when I presented the Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy, the world was a very different place.

Since then, the strategy has helped us to steer the course of our foreign and security policy through difficult times.

The strategy has served as a springboard to relaunch European integration after the British referendum.

After that referendum a year ago, many predicted an “inevitable” decline of the EU, and imagined that the strategy would stay in a drawer or would very soon look outdated.

MOVED FAST

Others told us that the change advocated would have taken years to turn into reality, or might simply never happen.

This has not been the case. We have moved fast – and united – on implementation, starting with security and defence.

In this field, more has been achieved in the last 10 months than in the last 10 years.

The new command centre for EU military training and advisory missions is now a reality.

A coordinated annual review of national defence budgets is taking shape.

STRUCTURED COOPERATION

Preparations for a permanent structured cooperation on defence among interested member states are moving forward.

The Global Strategy has stood to the test of time in a very dense year.

The push for security and defence, with Nato and all our partners, anticipated debate on military burden-sharing across the Atlantic.

When the crucial role of the United Nations,  or the reality of climate change are put into question, the strategy has been a reminder of the EU’s strategic interest in a cooperative world order.

GLOBAL POWER

The strategy has shown our partners that we will continue to be a reliable global power and security provider.

Our cooperation with the UN has been closer than ever, and the demand for reformed global governance resonates with the reform agenda pushed by Secretary-General António Guterres.

Our support for the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Sustainable Development Goals or peacekeeping operations represents a point of reference for our partners around the world.

Today, the EU is perceived as a strong and indispensable partner for peace, security and human development worldwide.

MORE SECURE

But the Global Strategy is not only about keeping a straight bar in difficult circumstances.

It is also about change. It is about fulfilling the potential of our foreign policy to make Europe stronger, our world more peaceful, and our citizens more secure.

The strategy points at a very simple truth: In a world of giants and global challenges, we can only make a difference if we stand together. 

This year, for the first time ever, we have managed to agree on a common development policy – the EU Consensus on Development – for all European institutions and member states. From a shared vision stems common action.

PREVENTING NEW WARS

We are putting emphasis on preventing new wars, new humanitarian disasters, new refugee crises.

And we are doing more to plan in due time for post-crisis reconstruction, from Syria and Iraq to Nigeria – because if we want peace, we must prepare for peace.

We have increased cooperation with our neighbours and partners, from the fight against terrorism to a better management of migration flows.

Things can change – when we work united, with a clear objective, to turn a vision into action.

This first progress report on the Global Strategy’s implementation maps this year’s achievement, and helps us to chart the path ahead.

A stronger and safer EU is possible: Together, we are making it happen.

Ms Mogherini is the EC vice-president and high representative for foreign and security policy. The EU Global Strategy first-year implementation report was launched on June 19