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FRIDE in Casa de Galicia "Europe's role in globalisation"

20/12/2007 By Publicaciones FRIDE

Hubért Védrine, Minister for Foreign Affairs in the last socialist government of France, recently produced, at the request of President Nicolas Sarkozy, a report on France and globalisation that has had a major impact in his country and the rest of Europe. On December 5 Mr Védrine presented, as part of the FRIDE in Casa de Galicia series of seminars, his main conclusions regarding the role of the EU as an international actor.

He began his presentation by posing the question of just what is Europe and who are Europeans? He described the union’s nature as complex and affirmed that, in his opinion, there was no easy way to manage the weak identity of a Europe with 27 members, including both weak and strong states.

The politician also warned of lessening enthusiasm for integration (thanks to the lack of understanding of these processes and blockages at the institutional level) and the lack of a common foreign and security policy (CFSP). In his judgment, the CFSP remains little more that a loose framework, as common actions form a very limited part of Europe’s international role. He also argued that the disagreement between Rome and Warsaw over Russia was evidence that this issue would impede the existence of any CFSP until this question was resolved.

Mr Védrine used extensive survey data to illustrate the lack of confidence that globalisation provokes not just in France, but in all of Europe (around 47 percent of the total population of the EU does not trust in the processes of globalisation or their capacity to tackle the changes they cause). He affirmed that people do not see it as an opportunity and went on to underline “franco-pessimism” with regard to the issue, commenting that 80 percent of French people do not feel the French are happy (although, somewhat curiously, 80 percent of French people described themselves as happy).

In this context, he argued that both the catechesis of neoliberalism and the anti-globalisation doctrine are absurd as there exists neither victims nor solidarity. The French politician went on to explain what he saw as the non-existence of an international community and pointed out that there are one billion of “us” and five billion of “them”. Mr Védrine argued that it was essential Europe overcome the abyss between discourse and action with regard to human rights, which was much in evidence in the case of Burma.

His proposal was that Europe should become a centre of benign power with common sense. In order to achieve this, he suggested:

• To provoke a “mental shock” among the people asking whether they want Europe to become a power to protect their interests.
• Launch, before the European Parliament elections in 2008, a wide and provocative debate on the future of the EU. This would involve working from new premises and making Europe’s interests understood in order to design new instruments and policies accordingly.
• Strengthen national identities within Europe in order to have strong nations and a strong Europe.
• Find a strategic balance: a peaceful, but not necessarily pacifist, Europe.
• Design real policies and strategies for external relations: How to be an ally of the United States? He underlined that, with respect to Iraq, neither allies nor opposed parties enjoyed much success.
• Set geographical limits on enlargement. Should Turkey become a member of the EU? Should a limit be placed on EU expansion? And, from the point of view of diversity, should the EU have some element of cohesion? 
• Overcome Europe’s institutional paralysis, building a federation for Europe rather than just a confederation (as currently exists) for everything else.
• With regard to globalisation, develop a framework of protection-regulation, searching for a balance between opening and protectionism. All actors should find their place, not in the face of globalisation, but within it. There is no alternative, he said.

With all this in mind, Mr Védrine underlined that it was not possible or desirable for EU member states to give up their own foreign policies. He affirmed that Europe should abandon the idea of becoming a “giant Switzerland”, prosperous, stable and secure. This, he said, was a post-historic illusion and not sustainable in reality.

Europe should also abandon the passivity that makes it dependent on other international actors (principally the United States and, to some extent, China), and become a fulcrum of benign power, making its position and interests clear, without presenting itself as a threat. To this end, Europeans must accept integration as an inevitable process, but one with clear national interests.

Publishing groups

FRIDE in Casa de Galicia

Keywords

EU Foreign Policy Europe Globalization Multilateralism

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