Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The EU Commission takes stock of International Partnerships’ strategy to improve resilience at home and abroad.
The European Commission has assumed a Communication on “building sustainable international partnerships as a Team Europe,” taking stock of the improvement achieved in the field of International Partnerships.Â
How is the EU adapting its partnership strategies?
Over the past five years, the EU has reworked its model of cooperation in response to the evolving geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape and global challenges, notably the growing gap in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. The EU has moved away from donor-recipient dynamics towards mutually beneficial collaborations, which bring benefits to the local populations and support resilience at home and abroad. This approach was incorporated into the Global Gateway investment strategy established in 2021. By investing in partnerships, the EU seeks to place itself in an increasingly contested international environment.
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union establishments, EU Member States, and European development financial institutions first drove for joint responses in a Team Europe spirit, which has since evolved into an integral part of the EU’s external action toolbox permitting the EU to increase the scale, influence, and visibility of its actions. Bringing on board also the private sector, the Team Europe procedure has been the main delivery means of the EU’s Global Gateway investment strategy.
How does the global gateway investment strategy function?
Global Gateway is anticipated to mobilise up to €300 billion in sustainable public and private investments by the year 2027. Between 2021-2023, €179 billion in investments have been mustered in our partner nations across the world, offering 225 flagship projects. Out of these, €50 billion was funded by the European Commission and €129 billion was mustered by EU Member States, the EIB and the EBRD.
The Communication also recounts the EU’s concentration in fragile contexts and countries, where the primary purpose is to address the root causes of fragility and keep the basic needs and livelihoods of populations, along the Humanitarian-Development-Peace nexus.
The EU has scaled up work to deliver a comprehensive response to address the root reasons of migration. The external dimension is an essential element of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, and in line with the Pact, the EU has improved engagement with nations of origin and transit.
