Libya conflict leaves EU diplomacy struggling

Press quote (Monsters and Critics)
11 March 2011

"The EU policies just aren't mature enough or aligned enough to absorb this kind of crisis," says Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank in London. "They're still in learning mode. The Europeans can't find a common line on Russia, so I don't find it so hard to believe they can't find a common line on Libya," said Brady. "Everybody takes their stand, then the event actually happens, then the EU cobbles together a policy based on the country's version that was most right, But the first principle of their action should be like the Hippocratic oath: first do no harm. It's a real test case for your foreign policy. And it will tell us a lot. Probably brutally expose a lot, but at the end, we'll probably have a more viable system."