“Europe is in danger,” said EU High Representative Josep Borrell in the draft Strategic Compass.
This is a five-page text entitled “A strategic compass to make Europe a provider of security”.
“Europe is in danger: we must operate in an increasingly competitive strategic environment. “The purpose of the Compass Strategy is to assess the threats and challenges we face and to propose operational guidelines so that the European Union can become a provider of security for its citizens, while protecting its values ​​and interests,” said Borrell.
He added that, according to many polls, European citizens “want the EU to contribute more actively to their security and to the world”.
“The starting point of the Compass Strategy is to recognize that Europe is in danger. “It faces new threats that are not just military or territorial,” he said.
“We need to know that Europe’s defense will require a new, integrated security concept and that emerging technologies will have a profound impact on future war and European defense.”
Josep Borrell also emphasizes that “the geopolitical stage is also becoming more complex. More and more states are behaving as partners in some issues and as competitors or rivals in others. International relations are increasingly being organized on a transactional basis. “For the EU, which remains the most open space in the world and borders many conflict zones, this is a real challenge.”
“The EU is equipped with a number of instruments to bring about greater cohesion in the field of security and defense. In 2017, the Coordinated Annual Defense Review (CARD) to streamline military spending across the EU and the Permanent Structural Cooperation (PESCO) to increase the capabilities and interoperability of the European armed forces were launched. Based on previous efforts, it established the European Defense Fund (EFF) in January 2021, to promote defense industrial cooperation. “These efforts enhance our operational capacity.”
“The Strategic Compass exercise,” he said, “is neither a crystal ball for predicting the future, nor a ‘silver ball’ that will magically allow Europe to develop a common defense policy overnight. It is, however, a guide to preparation, decision and action. “
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