01.

Overview

"America First!" - What stance should the European Union take on this?

In the 1st round of the European HouseParliaments, 1153 citizens discussed the topic of European foreign policy in more than 204 privately organized European HouseParliaments from July 13 to August 24, 2018. The first round of European HouseParliaments was designed and implemented together with our cooperation partner Democracy International e.V.. We were supported by the Institute for European Politics.

In light of the Trump administration's "America First" policy at the time, participants discussed the overarching question: "Should the EU fundamentally reshape its foreign and security policy orientation in light of the Trump administration's 'America First' policy?" Based on this question, four concrete European policy proposals were discussed. These included whether the EU needs a foreign minister, whether a European army should replace the national armed forces, whether individual EU member states should join forces in shaping European foreign policy, and whether closer ties with strategic partners such as Russia or China are advisable. The votes were cast on these questions on a scale of 1 to 10 as follows:

Subject:

European foreign policy

Period:

July 13 - August 24, 2018

Closing event:

October 30, 2018, Berlin

The dialogue partners

Michael Roth
SPD

02.

Partner

Institute for European Politics

Scientific Partner, Berlin, has been investigating
topics of European politics and integration and puts them into practice.

More about the Institute for European Politics
03.

Results

Does the EU need a European Foreign Minister with decision-making and implementation powers?

The results of the vote on sub-question 1 show that the majority of participants see an opportunity to strengthen the EU's external position through a joint foreign minister:interior office. However, the first step would be to ensure the democratic legitimacy and powers of this office.

Should a European Army replace the national armies?

The replacement by a European army is controversially discussed: On the one hand, in uncertain times it is seen as an opportunity for external sovereignty and internal integration. On the other hand, people are also aware of the risks related to crises, decision-making power and technical compatibility.

If not all EU member states agree: Should EU states that can agree on common positions join forces to shape European foreign policy?

The voting results clearly show that the participants of the European House Parliament do not see the current principle of unanimity or the formation of state subgroups as the best solution in foreign policy. Instead, a general - democratically legitimized - replacement of the unanimity principle by a qualified majority system is advocated.

Is a closer relationship with other strategic partners such as China and Russia advisable?

The voting results and indicate that European independence - and then closer cooperation with a wide range of states around the world - is seen as more promising than linking up with individual new strategic partners.

Should the EU fundamentally reshape its foreign and security policy orientation in light of the Trump administration's "America First" policy?

From the general feedback, it is clear that the phrase "due to the 'America First' policy of the Trump administration" in particular led to the controversial results. Overall, the participants are generally positive about a change in the EU's foreign and security policy orientation - but they also see this need for realignment independently of the Trump administration's "America First" policy.

04.

Contact & Download

Contact:

Contact: ehp@pulseofeurope.eu
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Download:

For more information on the 1st round of the European HouseParliaments, please see the results report, which can be downloaded here:

Download final report