The new foreign policy of the EU and the role of civil society

Key observations and recommendations in the opinion include the following:

• it is now no longer possible for the EU Member States, acting purely as nation states, to protect their interests, establish their values internationally or address challenges which have taken on a cross-border dimension, such as migration or terrorism. The EESC believes that this trend could speed up not just the economic decline but also the political decline of the EU, potentially jeopardising the democratic values on which it is based;
• the EU must preserve, first and foremost, its foreign policy values, defining joint actions and policies to preserve peace, prevent conflict, develop stabilising measures, strengthen international security with due regard for the principles of the United Nations Charter, consolidate and support democracy, the rule of law, fundamental human rights and the principles of international law;
• close cooperation is necessary between the EU and the UN in civil and military crisis management and, in particular, humanitarian aid operations;
• integrated, joint foreign policy measures need to be stepped up in the areas of energy supply and security, food security, climate change, regulating migration flows and fighting organised crime, illegal trafficking, piracy and corruption;
•  it is necessary to complete enlargement to include the Balkans, which is an extremely sensitive area inside the EU's borders, pursue negotiations with Turkey, and develop an effective neighbourhood policy focusing attention on the situation in the Mediterranean and the Middle East;
• Africa as a whole must be the EU's other priority for action: the EU's security and stability depends greatly on the development and democratic growth of the African continent, which is so near;
• coordinated, effective measures should be promoted in international forums; the EU must manage to speak with one voice. The EU must promote broad-based consultation with the EESC, civil society and the social partners in order to facilitate involvement in international organisations' future governance structures;
• as regards security, the EU should give priority to its neighbourhood, mounting operations to stabilise crisis areas and peace-keeping initiatives;
•  the EU decision-making process must be improved and made more effective, in particular to raise the EU's profile internationally. To this end, the EESC proposes that the elected Commission president should be the same as the ongoing European Council president, so that there is a single, permanent president elected by universal suffrage, as of the next European Parliament elections in 2014.