Europe urgently needs new plans to respond to voter anger at a
fragile economic recovery and to secure its eastern borders against an
increasingly hostile Russia, participants told Friends of Europe’s
top-level yearly roundtable on Thursday.
The meeting took place as challenges rain down on the European Union – from high unemployment and weak growth, to instability around the Mediterranean and Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said new rules were needed to achieve better economic governance in the EU, after major countries broke the rules of the Eurozone’s key economic agreement.
“The Stability and Growth Pact was kept together with concessions,” Monti said. “The time now is right, when the infancy of the euro is over, for a vision of new rules so they can be strictly adhered to. We can no longer afford to think as if the future were not economically relevant.” Monti, a trustee of Friends of Europe, said the EU needed to encourage more public and private investment to jumpstart Europe’s economy.
The annual State of Europe roundtable, entitled “A new action plan for Europe,” drew nearly 200 top policymakers, leaders of business and civil society, analysts and academics. Sessions examined Europe’s policies on competition, sustainability, social concerns, security and foreign relations. The roundtable aimed to produce concrete proposals aimed in part at responding to the spring European Parliament elections in which the mainstream lost ground to populist parties. The mood was more anxious than usual, reflecting the uncertainties that await the incoming Commission that takes office next month.
Outgoing Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia argued that a true European single market would allow many smaller European firms to expand across the EU28 and become more competitive globally. “Size matters. You need size to negotiate with the top players,” he told the roundtable. “Who are the supporters of the barriers that still protect national markets?”
Talking about the challenge posed by Russia, former NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the EU faced a number of problems. One is that, while Russia appears to have a European policy, the EU does not have a clear Russia policy. Also, the EU’s reliance on tools such as diplomacy, trade and aid has only limited effect when not backed up with the threat of force, he said. “Soft power is taken less seriously if people know that soft power will never be followed up by hard power,” he said.
A big problem for EU security is the gap between some European countries’ willingness to act in defence, and the continent’s overall lack of capability, said James Rubin, Scholar in Residence at the Rothermere American Institute, Oxford and former US assistant Secretary of State. “When there is a problem in the world, we go to our European allies, who share our values and are willing to take risks,” he said. But Russia’s invasion of Crimea was a warning that Europe is seen as weak in defence. “If Crimea is not a wake up call that defence spending is inadequate then they might have to wait till it’s too late,” he said. “Russia is a threat.”
The next problem could well be in the three Baltic states, which are members of both the European Union and NATO, he said. “I assign a high probabilty that we going to have a Baltic state crisis with Putin.”
Read more: Europe needs action on economy, security - Friends of Europe
The meeting took place as challenges rain down on the European Union – from high unemployment and weak growth, to instability around the Mediterranean and Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said new rules were needed to achieve better economic governance in the EU, after major countries broke the rules of the Eurozone’s key economic agreement.
“The Stability and Growth Pact was kept together with concessions,” Monti said. “The time now is right, when the infancy of the euro is over, for a vision of new rules so they can be strictly adhered to. We can no longer afford to think as if the future were not economically relevant.” Monti, a trustee of Friends of Europe, said the EU needed to encourage more public and private investment to jumpstart Europe’s economy.
The annual State of Europe roundtable, entitled “A new action plan for Europe,” drew nearly 200 top policymakers, leaders of business and civil society, analysts and academics. Sessions examined Europe’s policies on competition, sustainability, social concerns, security and foreign relations. The roundtable aimed to produce concrete proposals aimed in part at responding to the spring European Parliament elections in which the mainstream lost ground to populist parties. The mood was more anxious than usual, reflecting the uncertainties that await the incoming Commission that takes office next month.
Outgoing Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia argued that a true European single market would allow many smaller European firms to expand across the EU28 and become more competitive globally. “Size matters. You need size to negotiate with the top players,” he told the roundtable. “Who are the supporters of the barriers that still protect national markets?”
Talking about the challenge posed by Russia, former NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the EU faced a number of problems. One is that, while Russia appears to have a European policy, the EU does not have a clear Russia policy. Also, the EU’s reliance on tools such as diplomacy, trade and aid has only limited effect when not backed up with the threat of force, he said. “Soft power is taken less seriously if people know that soft power will never be followed up by hard power,” he said.
A big problem for EU security is the gap between some European countries’ willingness to act in defence, and the continent’s overall lack of capability, said James Rubin, Scholar in Residence at the Rothermere American Institute, Oxford and former US assistant Secretary of State. “When there is a problem in the world, we go to our European allies, who share our values and are willing to take risks,” he said. But Russia’s invasion of Crimea was a warning that Europe is seen as weak in defence. “If Crimea is not a wake up call that defence spending is inadequate then they might have to wait till it’s too late,” he said. “Russia is a threat.”
The next problem could well be in the three Baltic states, which are members of both the European Union and NATO, he said. “I assign a high probabilty that we going to have a Baltic state crisis with Putin.”
Read more: Europe needs action on economy, security - Friends of Europe
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