MEPs debate on the CFSP and CSDP (Article 36 TEU) Implementation of the common foreign and security policy and the common security and defence policy - annual reports 2022. Opening statements by David McALLISTER (EPP, DE) and by Tom VANDENKENDELAERE (EPP, BE), Rapporteurs, by Victor NEGRESCU (S&D, RO) AFCO and Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ (Renew, ES) FEMM and by Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of a stronger Europe in the World.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

McALLISTER, David (EPP, DE)

VANDENKENDELAERE, Tom (EPP, BE)

joint debate

BORRELL FONTELLES, Josep (PSE, ES, EC)

NEGRESCU, Victor (S&D, RO)

SOLÍS PÉREZ, Susana (Renew, ES)

foreign affairs and security policy (T)

Joint debate - CFSP and CSDP (Article 36 TEU) Implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy: opening statements

SOUNDBITE (English), David McALLISTER (EPP, DE), Madam President, thank you for giving me the floor. High Representative Vice President Josep Borrell. Dear colleagues, I remember how we adopted last year's Common Foreign and Security Policy Report. It was on the 16th of February. Just a few days later, the world changed significantly since the 24th of February. War is back in Europe. We are living in a moment of geopolitical redefinition, as we have heard by previous speakers today already.

SOUNDBITE (English), David McALLISTER (EPP, DE), The European Union's swift, united and sustained response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and our ability to learn and address previous geostrategic mistakes is a testament of the effectiveness of our common foreign security and defence policy. Indeed, the world has returned to the rules of power politics. As the European Union, we need to adapt to these realities, making sure that our objectives are consistent with our means.

SOUNDBITE (English), David McALLISTER (EPP, DE), My report this year emphasises that the European Union should shape its common foreign and security policy in accordance with four general actions. First. The concept of strategic autonomy or strategic sovereignty, however you want to name it, needs to be put into practice. This can, inter alia, be done by swiftly and efficiently implementing the ambitious measures enshrined in the Strategic Compass.

SOUNDBITE (English), David McALLISTER (EPP, DE), This can be done by reducing strategic dependencies. This can be done by enhancing the European Union's resilience. But its action speaks not words. Second, the European Union should strengthen bilateral and multilateral partnerships for a better world from our closest neighbours and allies to those who are far away that need us most. We should cooperate with partners to defend the rules based order and to maintain a principled position vis a vis those who exactly challenge our common values and principles.

SOUNDBITE (English), David McALLISTER (EPP, DE), Thirdly, to strengthen the European Union's institutional and decision making arrangements in foreign and security policy. We once again propose to turn to qualified majority voting progressively in all areas of the CFSP without military or defence implications. For instance, when it comes to the EU, global human rights sanctions regime also called the EU Magnitsky Act using the procedural clauses in Article 48 and Article 31 of the Treaty on European Union would be key.

SOUNDBITE (English), David McALLISTER (EPP, DE), And finally, fourthly, we should do our best to enhance parliamentary diplomacy as one of the European Union's foreign policy tools with a proven added value. To conclude, let me thank the shadow rapporteurs, all the involved staff from the groups and the Secretariat, and also to Josep Borrell, the team of the High Representative, for once again, constructive and fruitful cooperation. And now I'm looking forward to carefully listening to the debate, to the arguments in this debate. Thank you very much.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Tom VANDENKENDELAERE (EPP, BE), Thank you very. Last year was a very special year when it came to see DSP. We had the Russian aggression against Ukraine and it didn't know any borders. Literally, so now we have to think about geopolitics. This was a year of strategic rivalry, even systemic rivalry. So we've really understood what it means to fight for the values that we defend so ardently democracy, rule of law, fundamental freedoms, multilateralism, international law.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Tom VANDENKENDELAERE (EPP, BE), It was also a year of progress because we managed to guarantee the security of our citizens and not only their prosperity. This was a year where we realised that we had to do more when it came to security. This is a year where the sense of European integration makes much more sense because we feel this need more than ever a year of tangible progress towards more European integration, with more cohesion and cooperation between Member States, more tangible solidarity with our partners along the borders and solidarity with our allies, long standing allies.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Tom VANDENKENDELAERE (EPP, BE), So a year of war, but a year of ambitions which made us make sure that our feet were firmly on the ground. We have to be pragmatic, realistic and personally I think that meant that we were credible and efficient to. Of course, there are urgent challenges which are multifaceted and of course the war in Ukraine and all its consequences is top of the list. We need to focus on intense and hybrid threats.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Tom VANDENKENDELAERE (EPP, BE), There's also the need to bolster our military resilience. Our strategic compass has to be updated regularly and fully implemented, and we need to focus on our defence capability to make sure that duplication, gaps and shortcomings are done away with. And of course, there's also the issue of the EU and NATO and interoperability. So this report also underscores the importance of having enough financial resources for our budgetary commitments.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Tom VANDENKENDELAERE (EPP, BE), We need to beef up defence on the basis of more cooperation within NATO, but we also need generous investment when it comes to cooperation with our bilateral multilateral partners such as the UK, among others. Now the European Parliament is launching an appeal for a defence and security policy that will be at the right level with credible players so it can make a real difference when it comes to conflicts and threats.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Tom VANDENKENDELAERE (EPP, BE), And then we need a more efficient structure for our common defence and security policy. If it is to be more effective, we need rapid reaction forces and we need to make sure our missions and operations work quickly and of course the situation on the ground. We also want a defence and security policy that has a conscience and that there is a true European added value.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Tom VANDENKENDELAERE (EPP, BE), We have to get rid of too much dependence on third parties. We need more democratic legitimacy and do this by having the European Parliament play a more active role. It is a great pleasure to have this debate with you this afternoon, and I'd like to thank all the shadow rapporteurs for their excellent cooperation. And I'd like to thank our teams that have made drafting this report possible. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, Thank you very much, Madam President. Thank you very much to the two rapporteurs for these reports. Thank you very much for the work that you have done. They are an important contribution in the process of turning the EU into a geopolitical player. As you said, so much has changed since last February. We have turned a crucial page in history. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is of key importance and the shockwaves are rippling throughout the world.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, A few days ago in the U.N., there was a debate on the rule of law around the world, and the secretary general chose the right words when he said that we had a Russian invasion in Ukraine. We had the worst possible year when it comes to deaths in Israel, Palestine, terrorism and food insecurity in the Sahel. North Korea's nuclear program, gender based one in Afghan coup data in Myanmar, the humanitarian situation in Haiti, and so many other problems.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, And of course, power politics is back on a huge scale. And given this radical uncertainty, the European Union has to respond, as I think we did in the case of Ukraine, with sanctions, military aid. On a scale never seen before. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are going to be trained militarily. I visited Poland and we're going to adopt the seventh aid package through the European Peace Facility.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, Our civil and military financial aid puts us top of the list on a global stage. Of course, we are very much committed to our immediate neighbours in Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the entire Balkan region, Kosovo, Serbia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. We've seen the emergence of China. In this meeting of the United Nations. China said loud and clear that it doesn't believe in this rules based international order.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, It is an ambiguous concept which at the end of the day only is about imposing the supremacy of the Western world. Let us be very careful with our economic dependence on China. We are more dependent on China, given the green transition than we were when it came to our dependency on Russian energy. We've got to continue building a diversification of our supply chains and resilience.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, This is extremely important for our relations with our southern neighbours, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America. The competition between the U.S. and China is the main force which is moulding what is happening. But we've got Turkey, India, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, Mexico, Indonesia are examples of countries that can be seen as swing states on a global stage.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, Countries that are sitting on the fence that they that defend their interests and that in some way constitute the structure of what we call the global South. Nowadays, countries that don't want to choose that sit on the fence when it comes to the clash between Russia and the Western world. And we cannot force them to do so. We've got to understand what lies behind their concerns.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, We have to be more proactive. We have to make sure that we're seen in the way that we want to be. And we want to be seen as a force that contributes to global good and the fight against climate change and inequality. We want a fair, multilateral world that will allow us to tackle the energy and food crisis, but that also contributes to the building of more cohesive societies when it comes to security.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, We have implemented the strategic competition, made progress. The aim is to make the EU more resilient. And a player that offers security with more modern armies and armies that are more interoperable. A rapid deployment capacity has made headway, and the next step is to actually have real time exercises and on land in the sea. And that will start with the upcoming Spanish presidency.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, The war in Ukraine means that we significantly, we have to increase our ambition significantly, especially when it comes to defence. Not only should we spend more, but what we need to do more importantly is spend better, and that means to spend together. That's why we've got PESCO and we need to continue fleshing this out in the European Defence Fund and the obligation to replenish our military stocks that have been emptied out by the war in Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, And I count on you to help us develop the Joint Procurement Act in order to bolster the industrial base of our defence sector. We need to also tackle hybrid threats and cyber attacks and make sure we can deal with them better. Now, ladies and gentlemen. During my hearing back in 2019 as High Representative, I said that Europe needed to speak the language of power and become a geopolitical player.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC in charge of a stronger Europe in the World, We are making progress in that direction, but we still have our work cut out for us. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has pushed us in the right direction and has given us an argument to continue doing so in order to go further and more quickly. Thank you.