European influence. The need for a paradigm shift

A2012ll European efforts are focused on overcoming the euro zone crisis. Yet the feeling of a loss of credibility of the EU on the international scene urges for a careful reassessment of European influence and the risk of a progressive marginalisation of Europeans in the multi-polar world. Faced with the new logic of power adopted by the merging economies, Europeans need a clearer vision of their interests and of the role they want the EU to play in the medium and the long run.

In the context of the member states’ sovereign debt, this is achieved through a form a hierarchy of the European external action’s priorities; whether it is by a better assessment of the areas within which the EU has a real added value or by concentrating in its close vicinity.

This new strategic approach aimed at better coordinating
the different instruments of the EU’s external action, must build on a less euro-centric vision of globalisation and a less patronising neighbourhood policy.

The EU will succeed in being innovative if it changes paradigm: implementing a strategy of influence which doesn’t give up on normative standards while seeking less
to impose its own objectives and more to involve regional actors, be these closer or further away, in real strategic partnerships.