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European Political Community

The European Political Community (EPC) is an intergovernmental forum for political and strategic discussions about the future of Europe, established in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The group first met in October 2022 in Prague, with participants from 44 European countries, as well as the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission. It is distinct from both the European Union (which is a participant) and the Council of Europe.

History

The European Political Community was proposed by the French president Emmanuel Macron at the Conference on the Future of Europe on 9 May 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in his role as the president of the Council of the European Union (EU). The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, also put forward a similar proposal for the establishment of a "European geopolitical community". On 23–24 June 2022, formation of the community was agreed to at a meeting of the European Council. On 29 September 2022, the United Kingdom announced that it would participate in the community. The group convened for the first time on 6 October 2022 with leaders from 44 states in attendance. Russia and Belarus were deliberately excluded from participation. In January 2023, it was confirmed that San Marino had joined the community becoming its 45th participating state. The heads of government of Andorra and Monaco were also invited to the second summit bringing the number of participants up to 47.

Aim

In his address to the European Parliament on 9 May 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed the European Political Community as "a new European organization" that would allow countries "that subscribe to our shared core values to find a new space for cooperation" on politics, security, energy, infrastructure, investment, and migration. The European Political Community has been interpreted by academics as a response to the invasion of Ukraine but also an attempt at rapprochement between member states of the European Union and the United Kingdom and a reflection of the limits of the European Union to own or fulfil the objectives of European integration and pro-Europeanism.

The aim of the European Political Community is to provide a policy coordination platform for European countries across the continent and to foster political dialogue and cooperation to address issues of common interest, so as to strengthen the security, stability and prosperity of the European continent, in particular in regard to the European energy crisis.

The European Political Community aims at:

strengthening the links between EU member states and non-EU member states who share the same European values,
increasing cooperation between the member countries on a large scale of topics such as peace, security, energy, climate, migration and the current economic situation,
allowing candidate states to start taking part in some European projects, such as student and university exchanges.

Following a bilateral summit meeting between the leaders of the United Kingdom and France on 10 March 2023, it was stated in the joint declaration that the EPC should focus on energy, infrastructures, connectivity, cybersecurity, countering disinformation and migration.

Structure

The European Political Community is envisaged as an intergovernmental forum for heads of states and governments similar to the G7 or G20 and upon establishment did not have its own secretariat, budget or staff. Each summit is primarily organised by the hosting country. The incoming host, outgoing host and future host constitute a "Hosting Trio" to coordinate organising summits and the setting agendas.

In January 2023, the Government of France began recruiting a small task force, led by a project manager, to support the work of the EPC. The task force will help coordinate the preparation and organisation of EPC Summits, support the institutional development of the EPC, facilitate the insertion of the EPC in the space European diplomacy (EU, Council of Europe) and contribute to mobilising various other actors (such as development banks) in support of the work of the EPC. The task force is to be based in Paris with a presence in the host country for the next summit.

The invitation letter for the first summit was signed by European Council President Charles Michel. For the second summit, invitation letters were jointly signed by Charles Michel and Maia Sandu, the president of the hosting country.

An official website, Twitter account and Facebook account for the second summit were launched in late April 2023. As the community has not launched an official website, the agendas, press releases and multimedia resources for the summits are published on the website of the European Council.

Symbols

At the request of the government of the United Kingdom, the European Political Community does not use symbols associated with the European Union such as the European Flag or the European Anthem. At the first summit in October 2022, a wordmark consisting of the English language name of the community in blue capital letters was used. A new logo was adopted in the lead up to the second summit, consisting of the abbreviation "EPC" in blue on a white background.

Summits

Two summits are held every year with the spring summit being hosted by a non-EU member state and the autumn summit hosted by an EU member state. The first summit took place in Prague on 6 October 2022. The event was covered live by the Eurovision network.

Following the first summit, it was decided that Moldova will hold the following meeting, and topics on which leaders agreed to work on include protecting "key facilities" such as pipelines, undersea cables, and satellites.

In May 2023, Switzerland expressed an interest in hosting an EPC summit in spring 2025. Serbia has also expressed an interest in hosting a future summit.

Participants

The countries and international organisations participating in the European Political Community are as follows:

Countries participating

Organisations participating

European countries not participating

European countries not invited

Achievements

During the first summit, it was agreed that a European Union-led mission would be deployed on the Armenian side of the border with Azerbaijan for a period of two months of monitoring following the Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis. This mission ultimately led to the deployment of a longer term European Union Mission in Armenia.

The first summit also led to a rapprochement between the United Kingdom and European institutions. At the summit, the UK agreed to re-engage with the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) and committed to joining the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and its Military Mobility programme.

The second summit hosted by Moldova coincided with an €87m contribution to non-military logistical aid from the European Peace Facility, as well as the establishment of a civilian mission in Chișinău.

Reception

Positive

German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz said that community could mediate "regular exchanges at the political level" once or twice a year to discuss issues affecting the continent. Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, and Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, supported Macron's proposal in an opinion piece published by Politico on 5 October 2022. They argued that Europe needed a platform that did not overlap with existing regional organisations or displace processes of European Union membership. In a command paper presented to parliament in March 2023, the UK government stated that it supports the aims of the EPC and sees it as a "notable and welcome new forum for continent-wide cooperation". The Consultative Committee of the European Economic Area welcomed the formation of the EPC and considers it to be a good arena for the discussion of talks and discussions related to maintaining peace and stability across the continent.

Negative

According to the Associated Press, critics claimed the EPC was an attempt to put the brakes on the potential enlargement of the European Union, speculating that "it may become a talking shop, perhaps convening once or twice a year but devoid of any real clout or content". Additionally, the first summit did not include a formal declaration, nor was any offer of EU money or programs proposed at the time. A spokesperson for the Council of Europe, in response to the summit, stated, "In the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, such a pan-European community already exists: it is the Council of Europe." Russia criticised the EPC as "yet another attempt by Brussels to build an anti-Russian coalition and prevail upon other countries to join the campaign of sanctions against Russia."