Governance amid competition : reflecting on Spain’s 2023 EU Council presidency

Abstract

Spain’s Presidency of the EU Council during the second semester of 2023 has come at a time of multiple crises (Russian aggression against Ukraine, energy, and global food crises) that play out against the backdrop of a worsening state of global governance, growing strategic and economic competition, technological disruption, and climate change. Faced with the challenge of adapting to a more geopolitical environment while protecting the rules-based international order on which the EU’s governance rests, Europe must prepare for the worst while aiming for the best. Internal unity, social cohesion, alliances, and partnerships, including through new formats such as the European Political Community (EPC), are critical for reducing vulnerabilities and multiplying the EU’s effectiveness as a global actor. As the EU adapts, however, it must also seek to lay the groundwork for better world governance in the future.