The time seems to have come when the EU has to assume itself as a geopolitical entity, with an enhanced role and responsibility in global governance and towards its neighbourhood. Let us see the firstdecisions that will be taken by the extraordinary European Council meeting this week in Versailles.
The implications of the war in Ukraine will be far-reaching: for the Ukrainian people first of all, but also for the role of democratic rules in the global order, for the redrawing of the map of Europe and the future of the European project.
For the moment, under the shock of the Russian invasion, the EU has finally coalesced around some first fundamental measures: organising the reception of the first wave of refugees, supplying weapons to the Ukrainian forces, setting in motion sanctions with impact on the Russian financial and economic system, coordinating with the other international bodies to isolate Putin’s offensive, albeit limited by the risk of an escalation with unforeseeable consequences.
But this war, thanks to the heroic response of the Ukrainian people who foiled the raid initially planned by Putin, may drag on and still has a very uncertain outcome. It could range from defeat and submission to Russia, to a detachment of provinces and the creation of a buffer zone, or a relative victory of Ukraine with rapprochement to the EU. And several key questions will arise in the meantime.
How to welcome a large wave of refugees without repeating the regrettable blockages recently seen? It will be necessary to quickly set up humanitarian and temporary protection channels while at the same time finally organising a true European asylum system based on European borders, European coordination, and the sharing of efforts between all the member states.
How to create the conditions for a ceasefire agreement that will reduce civilian and military losses and prevent the escalation of the conflict while minimising the concessions to be made to Putin? It will be necessary to put him under maximum pressure with financial, economic, and political sanctions. It is equally crucial to mobilise all the international partners and – as far as possible – the Russian population itself, and to strengthen support for the Ukrainian resistance. But this is a race against time that will be paid for with Ukrainian lives.
How to respond to the Russian offensive in cyberspace – this new form of warfare – aimed at attacking various digitalised systems and manipulating the Russian and international public opinion? It will be necessary to rapidly develop greater cybersecurity capabilities and activate globally accessible public information worldwide.
How can we succeed in drastically reducing Europe’s energy dependence on Russia without incurring the risk of blackmail or a new spiral of inflation or worse stagflation? It will be necessary to diversify sources of supply and accelerate the transition to renewables with the necessary capacity of investment. This will mean prolonging the exceptional European budgetary capacity created to respond to the pandemic, maintaining the suspension of the Stability and Growth Pact and reforming it for the times to come. A swifter transition cannot deepen social and regional inequalities in Europe.
How to respond to the calls for Ukraine’s EU membership and those which are coming from Eastern European countries, starting with the Western Balkans, when we know that integration requires a major preparatory effort on the part of the candidate countries to meet the demanding conditions of the single European market and the democratic rule of law? Far more effective instruments of partnership and support need to be developed.
How can we prevent Putin-led Russia from gaining more overt or covert allies? China’s position will be crucial, as it could provoke or prevent a fracture of global governance and the advent of a new cold war. A much more proactive EU will be needed to defuse these risks and push for a negotiated solution and an inclusive but more effective multilateral system. The recent vote in the UN General Assembly that isolated Putin is an important point of departure.
It is time for the European Union to play its rightful geopolitical role and to take on its responsibilities in the global governance and towards its neighbourhood.
This means equipping the bloc with more robust instruments for its deepening and widening, overcoming various taboos and blockages concerning a more coherent foreign policy, a European defence capability in conjunction with NATO, a reformed European asylum system, a European energy union, a European industrial and digital policy and a strengthened fiscal capacity based on tax convergence.
A multi-speed architecture may have to be considered if some member states do not want to or cannot for the moment keep up with the necessary pace. It remains to be seen on what terms coexistence with Russia can one day be restored.
The fight against the pandemic has given new impetus to the European project. The battle against the new face of tyranny – with Ukraine at its epicentre – should provide an even greater one.
The ongoing debate about what this new year will bring expresses a generalised disquiet. Yes, […]
XThis website uses cookies. Some cookies are necessary for the proper functioning of the website and cannot be refused if you wish to visit the website.
Other cookies are used for Advertisement and Analytics (Sharing on social networks, video playing, analysis and statistics, personalized advertising ...) You can refuse them if you want to. REJECTACCEPTCookie settings
Manage consent
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
csrftoken
past
This cookie is associated with Django web development platform for python. Used to help protect the website against Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks
JSESSIONID
session
The JSESSIONID cookie is used by New Relic to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application.
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__cf_bm
30 minutes
This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
S
1 hour
Used by Yahoo to provide ads, content or analytics.
sp_landing
1 day
The sp_landing is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content.
sp_t
1 year
The sp_t cookie is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
CONSENT
2 years
YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
iutk
session
This cookie is used by Issuu analytic system to gather information regarding visitor activity on Issuu products.
s_vi
2 years
An Adobe Analytics cookie that uses a unique visitor ID time/date stamp to identify a unique vistor to the website.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
NID
6 months
NID cookie, set by Google, is used for advertising purposes; to limit the number of times the user sees an ad, to mute unwanted ads, and to measure the effectiveness of ads.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
5 months 27 days
A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSC
session
YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextId
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requests
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.