A functional multilateralism for the 21st century

We live in a world in turmoil in which the border between peace and war has blurred. A world of high competition between great powers in which energy, trade, migration or information are used as weapons. At the same time, the world is deeply interconnected and full of shared vulnerabilities. We face enormous global challenges – climate change, public health or economic governance – that require coordination, cooperation and transactions.

An uncertain and dangerous scenario with attitudes and decisions of a neo-imperial nature, and where the electoral temptation of national and identity withdrawal remains latent, continues to crack the multilateral architecture on which the global order has been based in the last 70 years. Multilateralism, the will to order the world through dialogue, rules and common institutions is in serious crisis. The current multilateral scheme, product of the post-1945 international order, and its balances, has ceased to reflect and represent the current changing power relations, thereby losing legitimacy and relevance. Similarly, the rise of authoritarianism, the isolationism and unilateralism of large players or the stress suffered by democracies are undermining the foundations of international institutions.

Although the multilateral method continues to be the best formula for solving complex global challenges in an interdependent world, it is necessary to recognize the limitations of the current institutional framework and address its reform and reconstruction with the aim of becoming more efficient, inclusive and results-oriented. It is necessary to open this debate. The invasion of Ukraine has made it even more pressing because, otherwise, we run the risk of seeing the collapse of the current international institutions due to their ineffectiveness. It would not be the first time.

In this context, the European Parliament has just approved a Report on the European Union and the defense of multilateralism trying to address this timely debate. Multilateralism is at the core of the EU’s values, and both form an invaluable symbiosis, the result of the very multilateral logic used to implement European integration. Consolidating a Union as a real and influential geopolitical actor would allow us to more effectively defend a global order based on rules and regulations. That’s right, strategic autonomy and defense of multilateralism are two sides of the same coin. For this, it is necessary to strengthen our alliances with partners that, in some cases depending on objectives and challenges, could vary to guarantee our effectiveness.

The EU must contribute and lead the necessary debate on the architecture of the United Nations to make it more operational, executive and functional. While we strongly support the reform program introduced by its Secretary General, António Guterres, we cannot stop there. We must provoke talks about fundamental transformations, such as the necessary modification of the composition of the Security Council, to seek a true mirror of today’s world – including the creation of a permanent seat for the Union – or the drastic limitation of the right of veto to be able to act in the face of crises in which one of its permanent members is involved.

A renewed multilateralism can also be the engine with which to address pressing global challenges. Multilateral forums have played a key role in addressing challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic –especially the World Health Organization through its decisions based on knowledge and scientific evidence– or climate change, as well it exemplifies the Paris Agreement and its multiple Conferences of the Parties (COP’s). It is necessary to extend multilateralism to areas such as the mitigation of inequalities, economic governance, global taxation, disinformation or gender equality.

In short, the world must reaffirm its commitment to the defense and reconstruction of multilateralism, and the European Parliament wants to contribute to this. Only in this way can we, in a world full of tensions and confrontation, with the latent danger of a new bipolarity, face the great challenges of the present and defend our legitimate interests and values. A renewed multilateralism can accommodate the emerging multipolarity and channel it through institutions and norms that do not make force the new dominant language in international relations.