Defence and foreign policy: European Parliament stands united against US threats

Brussels – With a resolution passed by 392 votes in favour, the Parliament is setting out a roadmap for future foreign policy decisions. Firstly, MEPs denounce the use of trade threats and economic intimidation by the United States against Denmark and other Member States as a form of coercion. The risk of a trade war with the United States does not frighten the European Parliament. The document specifies that Washington’s ambitions regarding Greenland must not become a tool to divide the EU, and therefore calls on governments to provide a common and determined response.

Concerns are not limited to the Arctic context. According to the resolution, an “arc of instability” is forming around Europe, stretching from Ukraine to the Caucasus, and from the Middle East to the Sahel. In this geopolitical space, EU enlargement is seen as an investment in Europe’s future. 

Defence is becoming a key issue for the European Parliament. MEPs are not turning their backs on the Atlantic Alliance; they are calling for closer cooperation. At the same time, however, they are talking about making the Union’s autonomous defence capability increasingly concrete. “For almost twenty years, the EU’s common security and defence policy has existed largely on paper: it is time to turn it into reality,” said Thijs Reuten (S&D, Netherlands), rapporteur for the document. The reference is to the Article 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union. The legislation stipulates that “if a Member State is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other Member States have an obligation to aid and assist it by all the means in their power.”