EU Ambassadors’ Conference 2020: The High Representative / Vice-President Josep Borrell eudebates

Dear Helga [Schmid, Secretary-General of the European External Action Service], dear colleagues, dear ambassadors, delegates of the European Union, https://www.eudebates.tv/debates/eu-p... #eudebates #NPT #armscontrol #army #nuclear #disarmament I am happy to be able to speak to you, even if I regret that it is through another videoconference. Videoconference has become our new normal. It is the first time ever that we have had to organise the annual Heads of Delegation meeting online, but it is better than nothing. Of course, everybody would have been much happier, would have preferred that we could together in person, but let us try to make the best of this opportunity. Sitting behind a screen inevitably creates a sense of distance. This year, we have been forced to do foreign policy without much travelling. This may seem almost a contradiction in terms - but here we are. All this is an unhappy consequence of the pandemic. Here in Brussels, we continue to face a very alarming situation. Europe has become again the center of the pandemic, and around the world. You know that the last few months have been extremely challenging for all of us - both politically and personally. So, allow me to start by thanking every one of you for the hard work in tough times and the sense of commitment that you have shown to the European cause. This will also be very much needed in the months ahead, because the situation is not yet finished. This coming week, we will discuss where we are as the European Union and how we can find effective answers to the multitude of challenges that we are facing, and, above all, how you, as the representatives of the European Union, can best fly the European Union flag and express the EU's voice. This at a time when, frankly, this is both more needed than ever but also more difficult, with all the headwinds that we are facing. This opening message is not the right format to give you a detailed analysis of the state of our world or to explain my political orientations on what the European Union should do on different topics, countries and regions. We will have a chance to do this when we have a proper session on Friday. I will then share with you my impressions on the past 12 months [as High Representative/Vice-President] and what I have learnt. And we will take a forward look at the year ahead. In that session, I just very much want to hear from you how we can best strengthen the European Union's role and impact. In every crisis, there are also opportunities. So let us discuss these opportunities on Friday. For now, let me make three simple, horizontal points. First, there is a tendency in every crisis, both at the level of individuals as well as that of groups, to 'turn inwards': to forget about the rest, to close doors and go home; to focus on the immediate and most urgent and to shut out the dangerous world. inaudible due to technological issue This attitude we cannot afford. We are connected to the world. The crisis itself but also all the other problems we face can only be solved with international cooperation. It is a cliché to say this, but it happens to be true. In all this, you as Ambassadors have a double role: to project the European Union's policies to the world and thereby to give a clear signal of our enduring interest in the international stage and international cooperation. But also to give feedback to the Brussels machinery on what our partners are thinking and doing. More than ever, we need - I need - you to keep doing this, precisely at a time when Brussels is very much busy with itself. Please do not be shy this week. We really need you to keep us informed about what our partners are thinking and doing. You are there not just to receive, but to feed back to the centre. Let us hope the centre will be able to use this information. We need it. Second, in the European Union, we have given ourselves a very complex institutional set up. Why? For historic and political reasons. And we have perfected these institutional discussions almost into a form of art. I must say that I have never been too keen on this. For sure, my experience as High Representative and Vice-President [of the European Commission] has convinced me even more that we need to think as One EU. Away from the divisions of the [European] Commission, the Council, the [European] External Action Service, we need to think and act as a single body. That is why we invented 'Team Europe'. As you know, Team Europe has become and should remain the official branding for our joint action on helping partners to deal with the pandemic, but also to bring together the EU Institutions, including the EU financial institutions and the EU Member States. https://www.eudebates.tv/ #eudebates