The U.S. President’s climate envoy, John Kerry, visited the College of Commissioners’ meeting in Brussels on March 9 to discuss how the E.U. and the U.S. can use innovation, technology, and the power of their economies to reduce global emissions. The commitment of both parties in renewing their alliance to deal with the climate crisis effectively was underlined in a joint statement with the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The European Parliament adopted a resolution for the establishment of a W.T.O.-compatible mechanism that will place a carbon price on certain imports from less climate-ambitious countries. In this way, the E.U.’s production plants will not move to these countries, resulting in the achievement of the Green Deal’s goals.

As regards the sanctions against Russia for the Navalny case, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, decided to align with the European Union, as he firmly upholds that the issue is directly associated with the protection of international security and order.

Nine E.U. Μember States have called on the E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission (HR/VP) Josep Borrell, to pursue a strategic discussion in April’s Foreign Affairs Council regarding Western Balkan countries and their prospects of entering the Union. This week, the HR/VP Borrell also advocated the need for an E.U. strategic approach to the Indo-Pacific region on his blog. Following the rise in geopolitical and geo-economic issues in the area, the E.U. needs to develop a more coherent proactive policy.

The Chinese 17+1 initiative, which aims at dividing E.U.’s joint policies through offering a distinctive cooperation status to the Eastern European countries, has started to generate criticism from inside, as the benefits are not enough to compensate for the damage stemming from cooperation with China. A recent example is the denial of six out of the 17+1 states to participate in a highest-level summit with the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping.

According to the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu, the initiative to buy a RussianS-400 missile defense system should not be criticized, as the country had primarily made an unsuccessful attempt to acquire an air defense(Patriot)system from its NATO allies. He further added that regarding the incompatibility of the S-400s with the NATO systems they are not going to be integrated into the latterand, therefore, they do not pose a threat to the alliance or its armaments.

Progress has been made in the E.U. and Philippines relations, following the demonstrated willingness of the President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte to advance institutional cooperation with the bloc.