With Brexit taking up most of the oxygen in Brussels these days, it was easy to miss the release last week of the Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy. Federica Mogherini—the EU’s foreign policy chief and a vice president of the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch—was tasked with developing the new strategy last June. It was drafted after extensive consultations with the commission, the European Parliament, EU member states and think tanks.
Officially titled “Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe,” the strategy outlines the foreign policy objectives of the EU and asserts the bloc’s place in the world. In its forward, Mogherini wrote, “The purpose, even existence, of our Union is being questioned. Yet, our citizens and the world need a strong European Union like never before.” She adds, “A fragile world calls for a more confident and responsible European Union, it calls for an outward- and forward-looking European foreign and security policy.”
Defense is a key focus of the global strategy. Specifically, it calls for the EU to become a stronger security community and to step up its contribution to Europe’s collective security. Counterterrorism and cybersecurity are also singled out as areas where the EU can and should do more.