The European Union should broaden its powers to act autonomously in vital sectors, such as economy and defense, European Council President Charles Michel said in a statement, summing up the results of the first day of the informal EU summit.
“To become more effective and assertive on the international stage, the European Union needs to increase its capacity to act autonomously: as an economic power: through our single market, standards (climate, energy, digital, industrial policy), level playing field, reciprocity; In the security and EU defense,” the statement says.
Moreover, according to Michel, the EU “will reduce dependencies and achieve resilience in areas such as energy, digital, cyber security, semi-conductors, industrial policy, trade and reinforcing the single market.”
“We will come back regularly in the European Council on these issues, starting in October,” he said.
“We are committed to working with our allies and like-minded partners, in particular the US and within NATO which is the cornerstone of our security,” he said. “Our unity is our core asset. By acting together, we will leverage our strengths.”
“Drawing the lessons of recent crises, we are committed to consolidating our strengths and strengthening our resilience by reducing our critical dependencies,” the official continued. “We will also pursue our own interests, in particular vis-·-vis China which we consider as a competitor, a partner and a systemic rival.”
He went on to say that EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell would put forward a first draft of Europe’s new security concept, headlined ‘The Strategic Compass,’ in November 2021.
“We will come back to it in December. We will endorse it in March at our regular European Council on defense. In the meantime, we will progress on the different existing tracks in the field of defense and security,” he said.