Foreign relations of the European Union
[citation needed] However, with the Union holding more weight as a single entity, there are at times[vague] attempts to speak with one voice, notably on trade and energy matters.
Article 20 of the Maastricht Treaty requires the Delegations and the Member States' diplomatic missions to "co-operate in ensuring that the common positions and joint actions adopted by the Council are complied with and implemented".
[5] The first delegation to be upgraded was the one in Washington D.C., the new joint ambassador was João Vale de Almeida who outlined his new powers as speaking for both the Commission and Council presidents, and member states.
Moreover, with its fellow GCC members it takes part in projects promoting diplomatic cooperation, renewable energies, economic diversification and cultural exchange.
[16] The letter called out the arbitrary detention of journalists for their critical work in Bahrain, unfair prosecution of defense lawyers, human rights defenders, and opposition leaders, death penalty, and mistreatment of prisoners.
[22] The European Green Deal, which could be seen as a threat to the Gulf state's fossil fuel depended economy, has lately also been perceived as an opportunity to prepare for the post-oil era.
While the EU is a significant trading partner for the GCC, energy exports to Europe, including oil and liquefied natural gas, remain smaller compared to those directed toward Asia.
[27] At large, the partnership focuses on the promotion of societal prosperity and justice, for example in terms of education and healthcare, as well as in regard to the protection of minority groups.
[27] When it comes to foreign policy, the EU and Egypt seek to follow a joint agenda, which aims at stabilizing the Mediterranean region, as well as the Middle East and Africa.
[37] The two sides have granted each other significant trade concessions for certain agricultural products, in the form of tariff reduction or elimination, either within quotas or for unlimited quantities.
[40] It reasserted the objective of a two-state solution, and stressed that the union "will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties."
[41] A year later, in December 2010, the Council reiterated these conclusions and announced its readiness, when appropriate, to recognise a Palestinian state, but encouraged a return to negotiations.
[51][52] Since 2016 the EU Global Strategy puts a special focus on the North African countries, of which Libya is often seen playing an important role for prosperity and security in the Mediterranean region.
[56] In 2018 the Cooperation Agreement was signed, which is supposed to strengthen economic exchange, with an emphasis on controlling illegal fishing, and promoting clean energy and non-oil exports.
[58] In western Europe, Spain was the first country granting diplomatic status to a PLO representative, followed later by Portugal, Austria, France, Italy and Greece.
After a fixed deadline, a UN Security Council resolution ... would accept the Palestinian state as a full member of the UN, and set a calendar for implementation.
[79] Even though EU member states kept tolerating the Assad regime during the uprisings in March 2011, they later demanded Bashar al-Assad to step down and enable the democratisation of Syria.
Following the escalation of the protests into a civil war, the EU imposed economic and military sanctions and ended its diplomatic relationships with Syria with the goal of changing the regime.
[86] In March 2021 the EU, in cooperation with the UN, approved a new aid package of 5.3 EUR billion targeted at improving the humanitarian situation in Syria and its neighbour countries.
The United Kingdom has since held extremely close relations with Canada, due to its paralleling and subsequent British colonial past and both being realms of the Commonwealth; along with participation in France's Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.
[114] Also, despite the arms embargo, a leaked US diplomatic cable suggested that in 2003 the EU sold China €400 million of "defence exports" and later, other military grade submarine and radar technology.
China's growing economy became the focus for many European visitors and in turn Chinese businessmen began to make frequent trips to Europe.
[115] However, economic cooperation continued, with the EU's "New Asia Strategy", the first Asia–Europe Meeting in 1996, the 1998 EU-China summit and frequent policy documents desiring closer partnerships with China.
They also cooperate in each other's regions: Japan contributes to the reconstruction of the western Balkans and the EU supports international efforts to maintain peace in Korea and the rest of Asia.
[132] The EU does not officially recognize the Eurasian Economic Union due to its disagreements with Russia, the EAEU's largest member state.
[133] The EU regularly holds High-level Political and Security Dialogues (HLDs) with the countries of Central Asia which include Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, with Afghanistan often invited as a guest.
[134] The HLDs with these states have a focus on security, and provide a formal platform to exchange views and ideas, advance collaboration and support EU involvement in the Central Asian region.
[141] Armenia also participates in the Eastern Partnership Program and the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly; which aims at forging closer political and economic integration with the EU.
In April 2018, Armenia began implementing actions for launching visa liberalization dialogue for Armenian citizens travelling into the Schengen area.
[149] There are questions as to whether the special relationship between the ACP group and the European Union will be maintained after the coming to the end of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement Treaty in 2020.
