Mozart against Wagner, the Borrell method at work

(B2) For a year now, the former head of Spanish diplomacy has been at the helm of European diplomacy. The person concerned himself had entrusted it to B2 before taking office, he wanted to act where he could, inject more dynamism and give more role to the Member States. He keeps his word apparently

Less pretentious than Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, less smooth than Charles Michel, President of the European Council, the former Spanish socialist has made his mark. And his age (73) does not appear to be a handicap. On the contrary...

Between action and realism

To identify Josep Borrell, you must first question his entourage. “He knows what he wants. He is realistic about what we can expect to have “says one of his relatives. " He doesn't just want to talk, say we're 'concerned' or 'very concerned' and then move on. If you are concerned, you have to do something. You have to look for ways to do it. If we can't do or do nothing, we might as well say nothing or try nothing and be discreet.

listening

Compared to its predecessor, Josep Borrell has a more precise approach on what we can contribute, concretely says a defense minister. Federica Mogherini" assumed that she knew everything. She made all the trips, didn't really pay attention to the advice of the military, and didn't even ask for it. ” confides a diplomat to us. " Borrell listens a lot more. He asks for advice. This is more pleasing to the Member States who have always had the impression with the 'New formula High Representative' in place since 2009 (1) of seeing themselves dispossessed. This does not prevent him from darkening if necessary.

Decide and go

Listening does not mean not deciding. " He's an old trucker who perceives when he can force his hand, or when he cannot. We saw it for the launch of Operation Irini. As the subject hung around and threatened to block, “ the High Representative pulled a text out of his sleeve put it on the table of the Member States. It surprised. But it worked. The States agreed to resume the operation. In the end, this way of doing things has liked a lot ". Because " he takes his responsibilities ". " The mayonnaise takes. Hope it lasts adds our interlocutor. In any case, this change us from Federica who was a little too much schoolteacher ».

A real change

« There is a real change in both substance and form, confirms another veteran of European politics. " I remember a moment [during the events of Maidan in Ukraine] where we had a High Representative (NB: Catherine Ashton) who said: 'I have a problem with the Weimars and a solution, the United States' ". An error according to our interlocutor. Because " it was finally the 'Weimar' who went together to kyiv to negotiate an end to the violence »... and not the US. With Josep Borrell, hay all that. If a group of States wants to take initiatives, it supports and accompanies it.

Draw perspective...

To sum up the Borrell method, as one diplomat confided to us, it is " we draw the perspective. The Council is working. There is a clear mandate, a good distribution of roles. We do not dwell long and wide on the subjects ". And we try to keep everyone on board. " Be efficient and united. »

... and keep a certain amount of pragmatism

To this must be added a certain amount of pragmatism. The discussion on the 2020-2024 human rights plan showed this. While the joint proposal made by the High Representative and the European Commission provided for a switch to qualified majority for the implementation of these recommendations, this grumbled on the side of the Member States. The High Representative set aside his proposal to pass the rest of the text (read: Human rights and democracy. Question of qualified majority postponed ).

Le hard and soft

In the world concert where the big guns (Putin, Erdogan, Trump, Netanyahu, Rohani...) play muscle, Josep Borrell fairly faithfully embodies the little European music which intends to play its usual score, the soft power, by trying to play (a little) with power effects, relying on its most cherished asset (the economy) and a desire (to stabilize its neighborhood). It's not win. But the example of the Iranian nuclear agreement where the Europeans held firm, despite everything to the Trump administration (read: The Iranian nuclear deal. Straight Europeans in their boots), is perhaps a key point in this (strategic?) turn.

A man of clear speech

Finally, for the press, this High Representative has an advantage: he knows his files and his interlocutors. And he speaks 'clear' and 'precise', at least as much as possible, without pulling the cover to himself (2). One cannot speak of total frankness (it would be the antithesis of diplomacy). But he does not dodge when there is a problem or a difficulty. And when he dodges it, the non-answer is...clearly an answer.

Well keep going!

In the light of this first year, at B2, we therefore award it a mention of 'Good. Continue'... We will see if the next four years will confirm (or invalidate) this favorable judgment.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

Read also: working methods at the heart of a debate between ministers

1. Since the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force at the end of 2009, the High Representative is not only head of European diplomacy and CSDP missions, but also vice-president of the Commission and president of the Foreign Affairs Council.
2. On the recent advances in Libya, he recently recognized that if we are moving forward, it is not thanks to us, it is thanks to the United Nations. A nice dismissal of the elevator and a snub to the passage to the German presidency which has put a lot of emphasis on its 'Berlin process'.