The Foreign Ministers of the EU member states met in Luxembourg on 24 June 2013.   Through its Foreign Affairs Council the EU gives direction to and implements its Common Foreign and Security Policy. The vast array of items on the agenda of the Foreign Ministers’ meeting of last Monday indicates the important role the EU has come to play on the world stage.

On its plate the Foreign Affairs Council had the deteriorating crisis in Syria, the stalled Middle East Peace Process, the unending threat from the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the volatile and intractable situation in Pakistan, to mention a few of the more pressing issues on which the EU cannot afford to remain silent and inactive. The Foreign Ministers also had to react to the recent developments in Serbia and Kosovo, the situation in the Southern Mediterranean, the situation in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood, Yemen, and the Gulf States. In addition the Foreign Ministers revisited some current global issues that remain a major concern to us all, such as climate diplomacy, the promotion of freedom of religion and belief, and the protection of all human rights of LGBTI persons.

Malta, as an EU member, has accepted to participate fully in the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).  Although this area of policy remains based on inter-governmental methodology, cooperation and consistency in the EU’s foreign policy has been strengthened over the years. This happened mostly because of the political commitment of the member states to speak with one voice and because of the realisation that the EU was punching below its weight on the international scene. Moreover, Treaty provisions, in particular the creation of the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and of the European External Action Service, also helped to promote a united EU in its external actions.  

Therefore the common positions and the joint actions adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council to a large extent define the parameters within which the individual member states are to conduct their foreign policy.  It is often argued that these common positions, joint actions and conclusions represent the least common denominator in the positions of the member states, while in fact the member states continue to hold very divergent points of view on foreign policy and security issues. This may be true.  However, one can sense a genuine effort on the part of Foreign Ministers to raise the level of the resulting least common denominator.  Moreover, recurring common positions on the same issue tend to crystallize into solid and generally accepted EU positions from which it becomes difficult for a member state to diverge, even though foreign and security policy remains its sovereign national prerogative.

The debate whether the EU’s CFSP creates constraints or opportunities for Malta’s foreign policy seems to have been settled except for those who believe that certain EU positions and joint actions infringe Malta’s constitutional neutrality. In this context one should remember that during Malta’s accession negotiations legal experts, both on Malta’s and the EU’s side, concluded that Malta could participate fully in the EU’s CFSP and its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).  Besides Malta there are another four neutral member states in the EU who over the years have made substantial contributions towards the formulation and implementation of the EU’s CFSP and CSDP.

Indeed, one of the advantages of CFSP is that it brings together a group of 28 countries with different historical experiences, different levels of alliances and ties with third countries, different regional priorities, and different national narratives, around the same table in a genuine effort to respond collectively to international crises in order to bring about a better world for all of us. 

Malta has the opportunity to be in this group, and it can bring an added dimension to the conduct of the EU’s CFSP. In fact Malta continues to contribute to CFSP particularly by stressing its own priorities and interests as a Mediterranean country, and by using its good neighbourly relations with the countries of the southern Mediterranean in order to promote a more coherent and effective EU policy for the Mediterranean. 

Moreover, by means of its participation in the EU’s CFSP, Malta has the opportunity to learn considerably from the experiences of the other member states. The larger EU members are much better equipped than the smaller members to monitor situations in troubled areas thanks to their world wide representation and sophisticated intelligence services. I am sure that our Foreign Minister during the informal exchanges of views with his colleagues on such subjects as Syria, the Middle East, Libya, and other subjects that affect the security of the Mediterranean, will gather information that is most valuable for his conduct of Malta’s foreign policy.

On a personal level I am most grateful for having been for four years Malta’s representative to the EU’s Political and Security Committee, which is the permanent EU structure tasked with monitoring the international situation and with preparing the meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council, besides providing political control and strategic management of the EU’s crisis management missions.  I learned enormously from the regular twice weekly meetings.

To go back to the last Foreign Affairs Council that took place on Monday 24 June, one can see from the number and nature of the items on the agenda how CFSP has expanded  and became an important instrument for the EU to promote peace, good governance, and international diplomacy.  Above all, by means of its CFSP, together with the CSDP crisis management missions, the EU can make, and is making, a difference in conflict prevention, conflict management and post conflict restructuring, in an effort to build a safer world for us and for future generations.

Tarcisio Zammit, former Ambassador to Belgium and former Representative to the EU’s Political and Security Committee