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Ahead of chairing his first meeting of EU foreign ministers Monday, the bloc's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy wrote a three-page letter to ministers late last week outlining his ambitions.
In the letter, seen by POLITICO, Borrell wrote that as "we see the rebirth of geostrategic competition," notably between China, Russia and the United States, the EU "has the option of becoming a player, a true geostrategic actor, or being mostly the playground."
His remarks reaffirm the new Commission's aim to be more geopolitically relevant, with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a former German defense minister, saying last week that each weekly meeting of the College of Commissioners will set aside time for a report on "external action." The new geopolitical push was also reflected in the Strategic Agenda 2019-2024, agreed by EU leaders in June, stating that "the EU needs to pursue a strategic course of action and increase its capacity to act autonomously to safeguard its interests, uphold its values and way of life, and help shape the global future."
Diplomats are keen to see how Borrell, a former Spanish foreign minister, will evolve the activities of the External Action Service, the EU's diplomatic body, as the Commission and the European Council take on a greater say in EU foreign policy.
"We need to speak more the language of power, not to conquer but to contribute to a more peaceful, prosperous and just world," Borrell wrote before going on to cite Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as saying that "if we only preach the merits of principles, and shy away from exercising power in the geopolitical arena, our continent may always be right, but it will seldom be relevant." [...]