The military intervention in Mali, negotiations on a new law concerning Spanish external action and services and the eurozone crisis have dominated the Spanish foreign policy agenda in the first quarter of 2013.
Europe’s growth strategy is based on a larger trade surplus with the rest of the world. The continent’s short-term problem is a lack of domestic demand. The long-term problem is a slow rate of productivity growth.
At the end of 2012, Spanish foreign policy centred mainly on commercial diplomacy and the promotion of the ‘Brand Spain’. However, the new focus of development cooperation must also be highlighted.
More than a year after the EU reinforced its institutional presence in Bosnia, progress on the EU reform agenda has been limited and disappointing.
At the start of each year, the FRIDE team looks at the challenges likely to dominate European foreign policy in the following twelve months. This year, our central theme is how EU foreign policy can deliver real added-value in 2013, during this period of political and economic crisis.
In recent years, the EU has significantly improved its support schemes to non-state actors in the Eastern neighbourhood. However, the Union still faces a number of challenges in its democracy promotion policies through civil society.