17
Jan
2023
Watch
Implementation of the common foreign and security policy - annual report 2022 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy - annual report 2022 (debate)
Mr President, we can take pride in these reports and I congratulate the rapporteurs and the shadows for their work on them. They capture the complexities of our posture in foreign affairs as well as in building a stronger architecture for security and defence. If I am to think about all the pressing issues that lie ahead and select only one long-term goal to solve them, I would make a pledge for a true and credible defence union accompanied by a rejuvenated defence industry. We keep speaking about the role of the EU in the world, our partners, our liabilities and dependencies about strategic autonomy and, of course, about the war on our borders. A defence union would give a sense to all that it would strengthen EU’s position in foreign affairs, its capacity to act quickly, decisively, to be taken seriously both by the actors we want to partner with and by those challenging us. A Defence Union is not built in a day, but we must set it as a goal along with the milestones that can render us step by step more resilient.