Global Strategy gives EU strategic vision for benefit of citizens, Mogherini tells European Parliament

In challenging times, the European Union needs to think strategically, have a vision and act together, especially after the British referendum, High Representative Federica Mogherini i today told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

"None of our Member States has the power or tools to act alone on the global stage," Mogherini told the Parliament’s July plenary session. "I presented the Global Strategy because in this moment we need to focus on what the EU needs to do for its citizens."

In such difficult times, the EU will deliver on citizens’ needs by engaging with the world and forging partnerships to protect shared interests and values, she said, underlining that joining all EU cultures together to achieve shared goals and serve common interests is what makes the EU strong,. She said she looks forward to working closely with the Parliament on the Global Strategy, her blueprint for EU foreign policy for the coming years.

"As a Union, we talk to global partners as peers. This can’t be done by EU countries alone," Mogherini said. "The EU Global Strategy is not for Member States, or Council, or Parliament … It’s for the European Union. We need to make it work. The Global Strategy now has to translate into action."

Last week, the High Representative presented the Global Strategy to EU leaders at their June Summit meeting, as she had been asked to do at their meeting a year ago. The Strategy will now be debated by all the EU institutions and will form the basis of the EU’s proactive external action over the coming years.

It aims to make full use of all the EU’s foreign policy tools, and to make sure that they all serve the shared European interests of all Member States.

The High Representative also presented MEPs with the main elements of the report published last week by the Middle East Quartet (the EU, the US, the UN and Russia).

"It is a report on the main threats to the two-state solution, with clear recommendations on the steps needed to rebuild the conditions for meaningful direct negotiations. We all know that the situation on the ground in Israel and Palestine is deteriorating. Unless we do something urgent to reverse the negative trends, this conflict can get out of control - and the very chance of peace may slip away. We simply cannot afford further escalation" she said.

"This is what the report is about. Our goal is to start a process; to reverse negative trends, rebuild trust and advance the two-state solution on the ground, so to create the conditions for peace."

"All our initiatives can and must proceed hand-in-hand, coherently, in coordination. Together we can pave the way for a return to meaningful direct talks. Because this is the ultimate goal of the report,”" Mogherini told the Parliament.

“The time for action is now, the responsibility is ours - together with the Israelis and Palestinians, together with the international community and with Arab countries. But it is also time for our European Union to play its full role, as a force for peace in our region."