Dacian Cioloș, President of the Renew Europe Group, has called on the EU to step up its game and become a geopolitical, economic and democratic power that acts instead of reacts. He was speaking in the European Parliament on 6 October before the Council and Commission:

“We urgently need a common strategic vision to act, rather than react, and quickly when necessary. How can we define ourselves as a real geopolitical player if we take two months to sanction the Lukashenko regime, and Lukashenko himself does not even make it on this list? Furthermore, when faced with China, Turkey or Russia, we must show unity, firmness and clarity in our responses. Moving to qualified majority voting in foreign policy and setting up a sanctions regime linked to human rights is the only way this will be possible.”

Cioloș, also warned that a financial injection is not a magic bullet but must go hand in hand with shared values and solidarity for it to be truly effective:

“At a moment when we need to pull together and act in response to the health, economic and climate crisis, some of our Member States are taking advantage of the situation to feed nationalism and hinder our efforts to take action. We should not be under any illusion: without an injection of democratic values, the injection of financial liquidity will not be effective. The Union must be a force ready and able to protect the health, employment and rights of all European citizens and this must be based on solid values, on freedom, democracy and the rule of law.”