The Team Europe (TE) approach that emerged in the context of the EU’s collective response to COVID-19 is an expression of this EU collective ambition as it seeks to increase the visibility and impact of Europe in support of partner countries. Against this background, the EU’s response has been that of trying to develop new and better types of partnerships, notably with Africa, while seeking to establish a leading role on the global stage and protecting its interests and promoting its values. Yet, in an era of increased geopolitical competition, Europe’s visibility and influence in world affairs is waning and being challenged by China, Russia, and other regional powers. The war in Ukraine has forced the European Union (EU) to take a stronger geopolitical role and tested the collective resolve of the EU and its member states to ramp up all the instruments at their disposal, from diplomacy to sanctions, from military assistance to humanitarian support. Geopolitical stakes for Europe are higher than they have ever been. This implies solving not only the internal procedural matters and coordination challenges, but also ensuring that TEIs deliver concrete results for partner countries as well as contribute to enhancing the EU’s political and geopolitical impact. This requires balancing between a light and flexible approach and the need for common structures to ensure that the collective momentum is maintained and that TEIs deliver on their high political ambition and transformational impact. The EU needs to solve open questions linked to the coordination, monitoring and governance of the TEIs.
Stakes are high and a number of conceptual and operational issues still need to be clarified as the TEIs move from design to implementation.
TEIs are meant to be easily recognisable flagship initiatives in areas where the Team Europe actors can have collective impact.
But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and beyond the positive dynamic created by Team Europe and TEIs there is now the need to move from words to deeds, especially as TEIs will also be the main channel for delivering on the promises of the Global Gateway. In an era of increased geopolitical competition, from the start, there has been a strong consensus on the need for the EU’s development cooperation to be more visible and have more impact. The Team Europe approach and initiatives have undeniably gained traction and political buy-in. In this brief, we look at the state of play of the Team Europe Initiatives (TEIs) and how the EU is addressing some of the key conceptual and operational aspects.
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