CONSEIL DE L' UNION EUROPéENNE
London, 11 July 2009
S181/09
Europe's role in a globalised world
I am grateful to Jeremy Greenstock for inviting me to deliver the Ditchley Annual Lecture. And I would like to thank John Major for his kind words of introduction.
You have asked me to speak about Europe's global role. About what we are doing and why. About what we have learned. And about what next steps we should take. I am delighted to do so.
Ours is a world in flux. One where big power shifts are taking place. And where the nature of power itself is changing too. Once it was measured in the size of your army and population. Not in terms of GDP per capita, reputation and whether you get to host the Olympic Games.
New powers are emerging, or in some cases re-emerging. All this is a consequence of globalisation which remains the mega-trend shaping our world.
Globalisation makes us richer and allows the poor to escape poverty. It brings people together and enables them to lead longer, better lives. Globalisation is the product of peace. As it spreads, it deepens inter-dependence. The financial crisis demonstrates how much we are inter-connected. It is also accelerating the underlying power shift.
Globalisation also means new issues: climate change, energy security, migration and what might be called the politics of scarcity. One third of humanity is modernising. This is making access to limited natural resources more competitive.
The world is increasingly divided between those who are in the system and the rest. Those outside are either miserable - like much of Africa. Or troublesome - like North Korea and Iran, or both. But China, India, Malaysia, and Dubai among others, have shown that it is possible to join. So, yes, in a way the planet continues to get smaller. But we are not converging on a single model of development. Chaos and hyper-modernity exist side by side. Inside the system there is a proliferation of political and economic "approaches". And there is no automatic link going from global economics to global democratic politics.
The core dilemma of globalisation is that problems are global, but resources and legitimacy remain at the national level. This dilemma manifests itself in nearly all debates on international issues: whether it's the financial crisis, poverty, migration or climate change. In essence, these are problems of collective action. Who is responsible for what? Who defines the strategy? How do you avoid free-riding behaviour and mobilise broad coalitions - including public and private actors? In this new world, a large part of politics can only be conducted at a continental scale. For us in Europe that means through the European Union.
The only way to tackle global problems is through global solutions. But you need building blocks. For us it is hard to go global without passing through Europe. It is a logical place to organise collective action among a group of like-minded countries.
Besides, the outside world is forcing us to group together. Take climate change. It is the single biggest global challenge. A scientific consensus is forcing the political leadership to address what is really a planetary crisis.
It will not be solved by US, China, plus Germany, Italy, UK, France, Poland and the rest. Europe, as such, has to be there. It really is that simple: either Europe works together or we become strategically irrelevant.
So here we are: power shift, multi-polarity, new security threats. A world where other narratives and other ways of doing things are gaining ground. This is the geo-political landscape in which Europeans have to live.
The good news is that we have made significant progress in the last 10 years in building the beginnings of a credible foreign policy. Like a person, we have developed. From talking about problems to writing communiqués to taking action in crisis zones helping people. This is impressive, given where we come from. Essentially, the EU was set up to abolish foreign policy among the participating states. Our organisational culture was geared towards taking legislative action in a slow-moving world. Now we are taking executive action in a fast-moving world.
Our political weight - long our Achilles heel - has increased. We are working closely with the US, UN and NATO. Not everything is perfect. Far from it. But we are making a difference where it matters: in the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa. The trend is up, even if we are not always moving as fast as I would like.
European defence has been a big part of the progress we have made. When we started, the comprehensive nature of our conceptual approach was ahead of its time. We are now present on three continents with a wide range of missions. From Kosovo to Afghanistan. In the Middle East and off the coast off Somalia.
Here, with first class leadership from Northwood, we have reduced the success rate of pirates by half. And we have protected almost every ship that has followed our directions. I did not think ten years ago that the EU would one day be responsible for thirteen frigates in the Indian ocean. We try to offer tailor-made solutions to complex problems. And the demand for our engagement continues to outstrip supply. All this remains work in progress. That is why we need the continued investment from our member-states: with people, ideas, capabilities and money.
This very much includes the UK. The European Union needs you. We cannot have a credible foreign policy of the European Union without the UK. You have something which only very few other EU countries have: a global mindset.
But it works the other way around too. The new world I described is also your world. A world of big trends and big problems. In this context, playing national cards has only limited reach. I note the conclusions of the recent IPPR Security Commission - including Jeremy Greenstock's. They point to the "dangerous fantasy" of national self-reliance and argue that "European co-operation is the only way forward". I fully agree.