“EU member states form Group of Friends to promote qualified majority voting on common foreign and security policy”

On May 4, a number of EU member states founded an inclusive Group of Friends to promote qualified majority voting on the EU’s common foreign and security policy.

About this, as he writesEuropean truth“, according to the German Foreign Ministry.

“The goal of the group is to increase the efficiency and speed of foreign policy decision-making. Against the backdrop of Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine and the growing international challenges facing the EU, the members of the group are convinced that the EU’s foreign policy requires adapted processes and procedures in order to strengthen the EU as a foreign policy actor” , the message says.

The group includes Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain.

The group believes that improving the decision-making process is also key to making the EU fit for the future.

The Group seeks to make progress in improving the decision-making process in the common foreign and security policy in a pragmatic way, focusing on concrete practical steps and building on the provisions that are already provided for in the Treaty on European Union.

The members of the group agreed to take stock regularly and stressed the need for close cooperation with all Member States of the European Union, as well as coordinating their actions with EU institutions.

The Group will transparently share the results of its deliberations with all EU Member States.

It is known that, for example, Poland opposes the rejection of the principle of unanimity in decision making. At the same time, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is calling for sweeping reforms of the institutions of the European Union and pushing for an end to the principle of unanimity that applies to key decision-making in the EU.

Talk about abandoning the principle of unanimity in the EU has been going on for a long time. Some countries, notably Hungary, often abuse this principle to block international policy decisions.

When the EU decides by qualified majority, it is made up of a majority of member states representing at least three-fifths of the EU’s population. Thus, this principle avoids the situation when one state vetoes the decision of the EU.