156 / 169
THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
156
States should not be “Europe First” but a multilateralism for the 21st
century, moulded in the image of the EU (what we might call
Eurolateralism) by virtue of which the EU would bring all of its eco-
nomic and political weight to bear in favour of rules in line with
European positions, values and interests, to support more balanced
governance from a social, institutional and environmental perspective.
– Following the French elections and the formation of a coalition govern-
ment in Germany, the road appears to be clear to a Franco-German
alliance to drive far-reaching reform of the EU. At a time when the
United Kingdom is leaving the club and Italy’s influence at Brussels is
declining following a general election in 2018 in which populist parties
won a majority, Spain should take advantage of this window of op-
portunity to put itself at the heart of European leadership, propose an
economic policy that is an alternative to the current approach, and
strengthen the EU’s external role in all areas.
– In the current context of resurgent nationalism, the High Representative
for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy should take on a more prominent
role, working not only with the various committees of the European
Parliament but also with the national parliaments of Member States
where requested, with the aim of creating a sense of unity in this area.
– The EU should resist the slide towards a trade war with the USA, de-
spite the threats of the Trump Administration, as such a move would
seriously damage transatlantic economic integration in terms of invest-
ment, subsidiaries and employment. The members of the EU should
unite in calling upon their North American ally to open up communica-
tion channels on trade between the EU and the USA. At the same time,
the EU should remain absolutely firm in its defence of duty-free trade
and the principle of reciprocity.
– Trade is of great political significance and is one of the pillars of globali-
zation, along with finance and technological change. A new European
trade model must therefore be consistent with the EU’s foreign policy,
particularly with regard to those countries with which we share values.
With respect to the CETA with Canada, which has already been signed
and parts of which have been applied provisionally since September
2017, the European Parliament and national parliaments must closely
monitor compliance with social environmental standards and the reso-
lution mechanism for conflicts between states and investors. With re-
spect to the Global Agreement with Mexico, Europe must ensure that
the aforementioned standards remain high, providing an alternative
to the NAFTA model, with a view to building bridges with the new
Mexican administration that emerges following that country’s presidential