4: EU
Building an effective and globally competitive EU in a secure neighbourhood Other Information:
The EU will remain central to achieving the UK’s strategic international priorities and many of our domestic objectives. It
will sometimes be the main means of achieving these and sometimes one among others. We will take a pragmatic approach to proposals
for further reform of the EU. But our overriding aim will be to make sure that the EU delivers recognised benefits for citizens
of Member States and remains successful by carrying out the economic reforms needed to seize the opportunities of globalisation.
The continued peaceful transformation of the European continent will depend on maintaining the EU’s commitment to active engagement
with Europe’s neighbours and to enlargement. The EU will remain central to our interests in Europe, helping to promote security,
prosperity and democracy in the EU’s possible future Member States and in its neighbours: to the south east, Turkey, the Balkans,
and the Middle East; to the east, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia and countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia; and on the south
shore of the Mediterranean. It will be in our interest that the EU becomes a more capable global actor. To achieve this, EU
Member States will need to translate common external policies into effective action through practical and political commitment.
Combining our economic, diplomatic and military weight better and making EU development assistance more effective will be
critical to increasing the EU’s international impact and its contribution to our international security objectives in particular.
Objective(s):
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