26.02.2015
Great majority votes in favour of Elmar Brok’s report on CFSP annual report
„I believe that the European Parliament has an important role to play in EU foreign policy“, so Brok
Elmar Brok presented his report on the „Annual report from the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy“ to the European Parliament. The report was adopted with a great majority: 47 votes in favour, 8 votes against and 6 abstentions. The centre-right, pro-European political party EPP, to which the CDU belongs, was largely successful in influencing the report and was only defeated on 4 minor amendments.
„I believe that the European Parliament has an important role to play in EU foreign policy. It can contribute to a stronger Common Foreign and Security Policy by providing political support for a more effective and ambitious CFSP, by proposing new ideas and increasing the visibility of the CFSP. I strongly feel that this is what our role in the CFSP should be – not only scrutinising and monitoring, but also serving as a pacemaker and as an initiator of debates on the future of the EU’s external policies. The CFSP report is an important tool in this and it shows that we take our role very seriously“, so Brok.
The chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs worked closely together with national parliaments of the EU Member States. „Some of them have sent written contributions, which were factored into the draft report. There is a visible growing interest on the side of national parliaments to discuss those issues together, and I am very happy to provide opportunities for our colleagues to exchange views on that matter. I think it is crucial to mainstream the debate on CFSP/CSDP matters into foreign policy debates at the national level in order to foster a common understanding of our goals and objectives“, explained Brok.
The report comments in some parts on the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs (HRVP) and the European External Action Service’s (EEAS) activities in 2013, which is the base year of the HRVP’s report to which the Brok report responds.
However, as the new report on the HRVP’s activities in 2014 is already in preparation, Brok drafted a forward-looking report focusing mostly on current and future issues, rather than commenting in detail on what has been achieved.
„I believe that at this moment of crisis in Europe, we can provide more useful input by injecting new ideas into the CFSP debate instead of giving our views on events that happened two years ago“ concluded Brok.
Please find in PDF format Mr Brok’s speech as well as his preliminary draft report as voted by the AFET committee.
For more information:
Elmar Brok MdEP, Tel. +32 2284 7323