Eduardo González
Former Spanish Minister and former Vice President of the European Commission Joaquín Almunia has called on Spain to “abandon” the defense of multilateralism within the EU and to “not be afraid” in debates on the Union’s foreign and security policy, including with regard to the elimination of the requirement for unanimity in decision-making.
“Spain, as a country, must support a decisive EU position in favor of global governance, multilateralism and a more active and effective international order” after “the fractures suffered by the international liberal order and the steps backwards in multilateralism” that were experienced during the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States, said Almunia last Thursday during his participation in the webinar Europe from the perspective of Spanish Foreign Policy, organized by the Spanish Foreign Policy Association (APEE) with the collaboration of Esglobal.
In the same context, “Spain must bet on an EU that has more and more of its own voice as a Union in many areas of multilateral debate, such as the UN, and in many areas in which the peace strategy is defined,” he continued. “The G20 is not enough,” he warned. “During the 2008 financial crisis, the G20 had very powerful presidencies, from the United States and the United Kingdom,” but “since then it has been unable to maintain that prominence,” as “has been seen with the presidency of Saudi Arabia, which has caused the G20 to disappear at a time when its role was so important,” he added. “Multilateral organizations are essential and Spain must be a standard bearer in Europe to strengthen the role of these institutions,” said Almunia, who was European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs between 2004 and 2010 and Vice President of the Commission and Commissioner for Competition between 2010 and 2014.
Likewise, according to Almunia, “Spain must fearlessly support a broader climate change strategy than that of the EU”, it must stand “alongside the Netherlands in the defense of a European integration that is committed to economic openness without protectionist pressures” and it must seek alternative alliances to the Franco-German axis, whose “priorities are not always those of the EU”.
This proactive role for Spain should include greater involvement in the EU’s foreign and security policy debates, Almunia warned. “We should not be afraid to take steps towards the loss of unanimity in security policy and external action and in favor of qualified majority,” he said. “Spain, on most occasions ,would benefit from a foreign policy that is not coerced by unanimity requirements”, he added. In the same vein, “Spain has to be brave” to enter the European debate on defense policy. “The common defense policy is not going to arrive overnight, we have to remain committed to NATO, of course, now that the Alliance is trying to reactivate itself, but we should not be afraid to enter into that debate,” he warned.
In addition, according to Almunia, Spain must ensure that “Latin America is prioritized in European foreign policy” because the pandemic has shown that this region “must be a priority not only for Spain, but also for Europe” and the Latin American vocation of the High Representative, Josep Borrell, is not enough, because “he cannot decide European foreign policy on behalf of the 27”.
Likewise, “Spain must support an EU foreign policy that reaffirms values, at a time when we run the risk of others trying to introduce theirs.” “Democracies at our borders are in crisis, but they are much more so outside them and we cannot remain silent,” he continued. Therefore, the EU must maintain its economic relations with Beijing “with realism and knowing the risk of betting on a country with the political regime that China has”.
