On July 12, the Council approved conclusions on “A Globally Connected Europe”, highlighting the need for the EU to pursue a geostrategic and global approach to connectivity. The aim is to advance its economic, foreign and development policy and security interests and to promote European values.
The conclusions build on the 2018 Joint Communication and Council Conclusions, “Connecting Europe and Asia – building blocks for an EU Strategy”, reaffirming the same basic principle, that connectivity should be sustainable, comprehensive, and rules-based.
The Council conclusions highlighted the importance of connectivity for economic growth, security and resilience. Essentialy, better connectivity would contribute to the diversification of value chains, reduce strategic dependencies and boost competitiveness for the EU and its partners.