High Representative Federica Mogherini presented the EU leaders during their European Council meeting on 28 June with EU Global Strategy, a new strategy for EU external relations. It is a product of months of work in the European External Action Service and replaces the strategy of 2003 that many view as outdated. The new strategy is broader, touches upon topics such as hybrid conflicts, energy security or climate diplomacy. It also brings together the many external instruments the EU has – from (largely intergovernmental) foreign policy per se, to development assistance (jointly coordinated by EU and member states), to soft power instruments (with an important EC role). EU security, internal and external, is at the heart of the strategy. For the external part, the strategy calls for greater military capacity of the EU. The EU treaties contain also collective defense arrangements and allow for common defense. The strategy calls for greater cooperation in this area. Not only military units, but also military industry in Europe should be strengthened.

The new EU Global Strategy can be accessed here.
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