Key facts
- France and Germany, along with nine other EU states, have signed a letter proposing reforms to EU foreign and security policy decision-making.
- The proposals aim to increase efficiency and speed by potentially using qualified majority voting (QMV) more often.
- Current rules require unanimous consent for foreign and security policy decisions, which has led to bottlenecks.
- The letter suggests emphasizing 'sincere cooperation,' using 'constructive abstentions,' banning the linkage of unrelated matters, and requiring stated reasons for vetoes.
- Discussions will also cover reforms to the European External Action Service (EEAS), including potentially embedding staff within the European Commission.
France and Germany, along with nine other European Union member states, have jointly called for significant reforms to streamline decision-making processes within the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The initiative, detailed in a letter addressed to High Representative Kaja Kallas, seeks to overcome the persistent bottlenecks caused by the requirement for unanimous consent among all 27 member states.
The letter outlines five key proposals designed to enhance the speed and efficiency of foreign and security policy actions. These include a stronger emphasis on the principle of 'sincere cooperation,' encouraging 'constructive abstentions' to avoid blocking decisions, and prohibiting the linkage of unrelated national demands to collective EU actions. Furthermore, the signatories urge the EU's chief diplomat to explore treaty-based options, such as the 'Passerelle clause,' which could enable the shift to qualified majority voting (QMV) on specific matters without formal treaty changes. The proposals also call for greater transparency regarding the reasons behind a country invoking its veto rights for national policy reasons.
This push for reform is partly a response to instances where individual member states, notably Hungary under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, have used their veto power to block decisions supported by the other 26 capitals. Germany has been a leading proponent of moving towards QMV in foreign policy, a stance that France has historically opposed but now appears more open to, as indicated by its co-signing of the letter.
In addition to CFSP decision-making, the foreign ministers are set to discuss potential reforms of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU's diplomatic corps. Options on the table include elevating Kaja Kallas to an executive vice president role within the European Commission, granting her oversight of external-facing policy units, and integrating a significant portion of EEAS staff into a new external relations department within the Commission. Staff focused on security and defense would remain within the EEAS, maintaining the existing ratio of seconded diplomats.