The European Union starts 2018 with a number of challenges, both external and internal. Brussels needs to bolster its international profile and strengthen its common foreign and security policy, not least because the US under President Donald Trump has become more inward-looking and less engaged in global diplomacy, but also because global issues are best addressed jointly. The Bulgarian EU presidency’s motto ‘United we stand strong’ is an appropriate reflection of this.
Indeed, recent events have shown that Europe deals best with external challenges when it stands together. EU sanctions against Russia for its behaviour in Ukraine, the bloc’s support for the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord, and Brussels-imposed sanctions on North Korea in response to its nuclear weapons programme are clear examples of how effective EU diplomacy and combined action can be. And the EU’s unanimous disapproval of President Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital also sent out a strong signal to the Palestinians that Europe remains firmly supportive of a two-State solution with East and West Jerusalem as their respective capital cities.
The EU must continue working in this direction and speak with one voice on major international issues, and thus act as a counterweight to the world’s great powers. In these turbulent times it is crucial to have a global actor that stresses the rule of law, multilateral engagement, free trade, human rights and solidarity when addressing major challenges.
The strengthening of defence and security co-operation within the bloc is also an important challenge for the EU, especially in view of the threat of terrorism and America’s changed foreign policy outlook. On December 11, Member States agreed to establish ‘Permanent Structured Cooperation’ in this area, and details of how this will work out in practice will be announced shortly. Malta decided not to participate in this structure for the moment, and has said it will review its position once the specifics become clear. We hope Malta will eventually join this initiative, especially since this co-operation does not undermine the country’s neutral status.
While progress has been made on strengthening Europe’s external borders, there exists no consensus within the EU on the concept of ‘burden-sharing’ vis-à-vis the relocation of migrants, with Italy and Greece still unfairly hosting very large numbers of asylum seekers. The European Commission has taken a number of Eastern European Member States to the European Court of Justice over the matter, but it is important that this issue is resolved soon. One solution could be that those countries refusing to take in any migrants could finance their upkeep in Italy or Greece.
More alarming, however, is the fact that the rule of law and freedom of the press has been undermined, to various degrees, in some EU Member States, such as Poland, Hungary and Malta. It is no use calling the EU a ‘Union of values’ if there isn’t a strict adherence to the bloc’s basic beliefs by all its members, and it is very clear that Brussels needs to develop a more comprehensive mechanism for safeguarding the rule of law within the Union.
Europe also faces a number of important elections this year, namely in Italy, Hungary and Sweden, where right-wing Eurosceptic parties will try to set the agenda. The centrist pro-European parties should run electoral campaigns highlighting the positive aspects of Europe, while at the same time addressing voters’ genuine concerns such as migration, as Emmanuel Macron did in France last year.
Another challenge Europe faces is the Catalan question in Spain, which will hopefully be resolved by goodwill measures on both sides of the divide. The EU cannot afford a crisis in Spain, a large and important Member State, especially with Brexit negotiations taking place, and it should quietly urge Madrid to give Catalonia more autonomy in a bid to quell the demand for independence.
Finally, it is important that the German-French partnership once again takes the lead in reviving and reforming Europe and on encouraging the rest of the bloc to work together on matters that will make a difference to citizens’ lives, such as job creation, security, migration, energy and the digital economy. To that end we sincerely hope that German Chancellor Angela Merkel successfully puts together a ‘grand coalition’ with her would-be Social Democrat partners.
While last year’s election of President Macron in France was excellent news for the EU, there can be no Europe without a stable pro-EU German government.