EUROPEAN CONVENTION: SOCIALISTS ADOPT COMMON STANCE ON EU EXTERNAL ACTION.

Keen to ensure that the EU is better represented abroad and greater influence for the Union on the international stage, the PES favours an extension of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, permitting an increased role for the EU both in the context of crisis management and in conflict prevention and resolution. In this perspective, the group proposes the redefinition of Petersberg missions in such a way as to include disarmament, military assistance and combating terrorism. Welcoming the Convention's proposal for a European Union Foreign Minister, the PES proposes use of a non-military rapid reaction force. Emphasising that the credibility of the EU depends largely on its defence arsenal, the group envisages clarification of EU-NATO relations in terms of armed intervention, which is not without requiring the re-establishment in advance of a balanced dialogue with the United States.

Providing the EU with an international legal personality, facilitating recourse to enhanced co-operation or establishing a single representation of the European Union on international bodies, notably the United Nations Security Council, are all federating principles permitting the EU to achieve the...