The EU-funded ENGAGE consortium held its Kick-off Conference on June 16.
"The most striking thing about the world today is speed. In a world of threats and power politics, the EU needs to stick together and go faster. Our future influence will depend on our assessment of threats and shared understanding of the word," said Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, during his speech at the kick-off conference of the EU-funded ENGAGE consortium, titled A New Governance Architecture for a Global Europe?. Similarly, Javier Solana, Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said, "the EU is already a global actor, but needs to become a better one. Therefore, we need to adapt governance structures to today's uncertain world, and consider not only the classical sphere of external action."
To help strengthen the EU as a global actor and advance the European Commission's goal of giving Europe a more united voice in the world, top-level researchers and experts of nine universities and four think tanks from across Europe met in this virtual conference for the public launch of the ENGAGE project - 'Envisioning a New Governance Architecture for a Global Europe' - which is funded by the European Commission's prestigious H2020 research programme.
According to Angel Saz-Carranza, coordinator of ENGAGE and director of EsadeGeo, "in a world mired in political instability and facing multiple collective threats, the EU cannot be a bystander, we must be able to speak and act." As for the EU's role in the international area, he said: "the Union should find ways to act more cohesively, interact with other actors more decisively and counteract the current collective threats more effectively. A 'global Europe' should be our goal - and it is within reach."