The Summit of Europe’s Ineffectiveness
The Pakistan-EU summit will take place on April 10, a follow up to the first meeting last autumn, but you would be hard-pressed to know anything about the event, since nobody is taking ownership of it. The reason is simple: the EU has nothing new to say or offer.
LONDON – The European Union likes summits. Just look at the way it reacts when the other side decides not to show up (for example, its response to President Barack Obama’s decision not to attend the May EU-US summit in Madrid). If the EU wants to be taken seriously and have a tangible impact, it needs to learn that talking about the right things is no substitute for taking the right kind of action.
LONDON – The European Union likes summits. Just look at the way it reacts when the other side decides not to show up (for example, its response to President Barack Obama’s decision not to attend the May EU-US summit in Madrid). If the EU wants to be taken seriously and have a tangible impact, it needs to learn that talking about the right things is no substitute for taking the right kind of action.