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Published on: 06/11/2026 - 19:49

This week, Caroline de Camaret receives Josep Borrell, former High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs until 2024. Also president of the European Parliament between 2004 and 2007, he was also the former socialist Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Pedro Sanchez and now chairs Cidob (Barcelona Center for International Affairs). With us, he deciphers the anger of European youth, the American mid-term elections and even the early elections in Spain. It also draws a bitter observation of the EU's foreign policy in recent years.

“The social problems of each country are first and foremost the responsibility of those countries”

For more than a month, the tumult of social anger has resonated in Europe. Italy, Spain, France… If there are many demands, Europeans are particularly fighting against the cost of living and job insecurity. What is the responsibility of the European Union in this discontent? For Josep Borrell, "we should not ask for apples from cherry trees. The social problems of each country are first and foremost the responsibility of those countries." He analyzes: "If there is discontent, if there is unease throughout Europe, it is for reasons common to Europe. But to pretend that the European Union is going to solve that, no. In France, the problems you have are French problems. In Spain, they are Spanish problems. They have a common denominator, it is the lack of perspective of young people. It is the problem of housing, the cost of living, precariousness. But that, It’s not the European Union that’s going to solve them.”

“There is a refusal on the part of some political forces to make the rule of law work”

Europe has also been the scene of several political transitions in the past year, notably in Hungary and Poland. In the first, the liberal Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, organized the dismissal of the ultra-conservative President Tamas Sulyok. But in Warsaw, the Prime Minister fails to bring independent judges into the Constitutional Court, opposed by a President from the ultraconservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. The former head of European diplomacy observes: "What is happening is clearly a refusal of part of the political forces to make the rule of law work, the rule of law as we understand it, which means the separation of powers, the independence of judges. Everywhere, the independence of judges is becoming a question."

“We are artificially delaying the enlargement of the EU”

At the same time, the question of the enlargement of the European Union continues to arise, with countries such as Ukraine, Moldova and Montenegro which are progressing on the path to membership. But in France, for example, the parties leading the presidential election are opposed to any enlargement. Josep Borrell remarks: "Enlargement has been beating slowly for a very long time, because we know well that at the end of the road, we have to go through a national procedure in the Member States which risks failing (...) We cannot have the candidate States all the time in the fridge, artificially delaying the end of the process because we are afraid that the Member States will not want to." In Serbia, where the Students' List has just overthrown pro-Russian President Aleksandar Vučić, the EU accession process can also resume. The former European diplomat tempers: "Serbia is going to go through a difficult situation because the students' party will have to govern. (...) They are in a hurry, they want to become a member of the European Union. (...) There is going to be a turning point, or at least, they want there to be a turning point. Are they going to be able to do it?"

“What is the European Commission doing to prevent Trump from behaving like this?”

The American mid-term elections were, for Josep Borrell, “a real earthquake”. As the blue wave sweeps through the House of Representatives and the Senate, Europeans hope that the Democrats will form a barrier against an unstable Donald Trump who is increasingly favorable to Russia. Josep Borrell, while welcoming this victory, calls on Europe: "It is good that the American voters voted against Trump, clearly. But we, for our part, should also do our part of the work. Everyone complains about the war in Iran. But what European voice, apart from Spain, has risen against the war in Iran?" He thus deplores the hypocrisy of certain European leaders like Giorgia Meloni who suddenly distance themselves from their ally and notes that the European authorities have been too sparing with the American president: "I recall that the German chancellor, when the United States began to bomb Iran, said that he did not want to bother his American friends with minor considerations on international law. Now, they say that (the election result, Editor's note), it is very good. But you, What have you done to prevent Trump from doing what he is doing? What is the European Commission doing to prevent Trump from behaving like this?”

Citant également l'inaction de l'Europe sur le volet commercial et les droits de douane, il regrette le comportement de la Commission qui investit, selon lui, toujours plus aux États-Unis : "Ce n'est pas seulement les droits de douane. Les engagements qu'on a pris d'acheter plus d'armes américaines, d'investir plus dans l'économie américaine... On a le rapport Draghi qui dit que le problème, c'est que l'Europe exporte trop de capitaux vers les États-Unis. Et la présidente de la Commission européenne says 'we're going to do even more, we're going to invest more in the United States, we're going to buy more weapons, more gas.'"

If the elections can have positive consequences on support for Ukraine, Josep Borrell remains cautious: "He will continue to like Putin, but he will be a little more constrained. But there is a presidential veto right. And the veto right, you need two thirds of the votes to overcome it."

“Pedro Sanchez proclaimed in the desert for the European Union to act”

On November 29, Spaniards will go to the polls for a snap election that could well bring about the fall of the Sanchez government. Le Premier ministre espagnol s'est démarqué, ces dernières années, par des positions fortes sur le plan international, alors qu'il était empêtré dans divers scandales sur le plan national. Pour l'ancien ministre des Affaires étrangères espagnol, "Pedro Sanchez ne se présente pas comme l'anti-Trump. Pedro Sanchez se présente comme (le chef d') un gouvernement qui rend des comptes aux citoyens. (...) Si vous voulez juger le gouvernement espagnol du point de vue de la politique étrangère, elle est aux antipodes de celle de Vox. Le gouvernement espagnol a mené une politique étrangère un peu isolée dans l'ensemble de l'Union européenne, mais ferme et, de mon point de vue, correcte. Il a clairement dit 'ce que Netanyahu est en train de faire à Gaza, c'est un génocide'. Et il a clamé dans le désert pour que l'Union européenne agisse. La présidente de la Commission n'a rien voulu faire et la majorité des États membres non plus. C'est le seul pays qui ait dit non aux 5 % des dépenses militaires. Et il mène une politique du point de vue migration, qui est aussi très différente de celle que la droite veut imposer partout en Europe."

Avant de préciser : "Nous sommes dans une démocratie parlementaire. En Espagne, celui qui gagne, ce n'est pas celui qui reçoit le plus de voix, c'est celui qui est capable d'avoir une majorité parlementaire en faisant des coalitions avec d'autres groupes." The right will therefore have to form an alliance with the far-right Vox party to govern.

Program prepared by Oihana Almandoz, Perrine Desplats, Florine Hausfater, Charlotte Prudhomme and Isabelle Romero

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