EU in the World 

Foreign affairs, security and defence

In the area of foreign and security policy, the proposals stressed that the EU should stop taking foreign and security policy decisions by unanimity, and instead switch to qualified majority decision taking. That is in line with repeated calls from the European Parliament, which also wants to see Europe react faster and with more resolve.

The EU must be able to speak with one voice and act as a truly global player, and strengthening the role of the EU High Representative is essential. In its dealings with third countries, the EU must make good use of its collective political and economic weight to nudge states, organisations and individuals to comply with its fundamental principles.

In the area of defence and security, proposals point to dialogue promotion and guaranteeing peace, with an EU armed force to be used for self-defence and pre-empting military action. The force could be deployed outside the EU only in exceptional circumstances and with a UN mandate.

In February, the European Parliament supported such ambition in a resolution calling for the creation of a multinational EU ‘rapid entry force’ that can be mobilised in a security emergency.

International trade

In the field of trade, the proposals suggest diversification of supply chains as a means of strengthening Europe’s autonomy in key sectors. A way to achieve this goal, echoed in several resolutions by the European Parliament, is through ambitious trade negotiations, which are better concluded as an EU bloc rather than as individual countries.

Currently there are a number of trade agreements in various state of readiness with countries as diverse as Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia and the Mercosur countries, In charge of scrutinizing the negotiation process and the resulting agreements, the Parliament has often called for conducting these negotiations as transparently as possible, a request repeated among the proposals of the working group. Ratification of trade agreements should also happen faster, the group stressed.

The Conference Plenary insist: the rules for companies competing on the internal market must be equal and fair. Parliament agrees: a legislative proposal on creating fair competition by counteracting foreign subsidies on the internal market is currently going through the law-making process, while another one that would open up foreign public procurement markets to EU companies is nearing the end of the process.

The proposals draw a strong connection between foreign policy, trade and European values and core European goals, by strengthening the ethical and environmental dimension of its trade and investment relations. They aim to link international trade with climate policy measures, to ensure that decent work standards are fully applied through global value chains, that human rights standards and trade union rights are upheld and that goods are imported to the EU respecting the goals of sustainable development. Similarly to the European Parliament, the Conference Plenary proposes enforcing trade and sustainable development chapters in the free trade agreements of the Union. The EU is currently in the legislative process of updating the rulebook of its preferential trade program for developing countries: similarly to what the Parliament’s Trade Committee is set to suggest, the working group also pushes for stronger conditionality provisions and effective monitoring and dialogue processes with the countries benefiting from this unilateral arrangement.

In foreign and defence policy and trade, multilateralism must prevail, proposes the Plenary, in concert with the European Parliament’s main foreign policy and trade resolutions.