Unlike saving the euro, saving CSDP and building Europe's shared defence and security capacity need not cost a cent. It would also be invaluable in helping the EU develop as a serious foreign policy actor.
The lack of a defined European response to the current crisis is forcing EU member states to renationalise their own foreign policy, rather than forge common positions. This new age of geoeconomics carries a hidden cost for Europe in the long run.
Merkel’s recent visit to China was meant to assure Chinese risk-averse leaders that Europe is back on track. But the visit was also a part of the mosaic that makes up European foreign policy towards China.
As part of the ‘Reinvention of Europe’ project, ECFR is publishing a series of papers on the national debates within EU member states about the crisis and the future direction of Europe. The first paper in the series examines the Polish situation.
The European decision to tighten sanctions against Iran is correct. Careful, balanced and measured pressure on Tehran is necessary as we face a particularly dangerous year for relations with the Iranian regime.
There are encouraging signs that the junta ruling Burma is starting to reform, and the country has been visited by Hillary Clinton and several top politicians from Europe. The EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, also needs to pay Burma a visit, and soon.
The financial markets have repeatedly shown their distrust in the long term sustainability of European Monetary Union. Confidence desperately needs to be restored, and that means rapid and credible agreement on measures that include a more integrated political framework.
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