Speaking at the European Union’s (EU) Common Security and Defense Policy symposium in Washington, DC, High Representative Catherine Ashton highlighted that the EU is ready to play its part in strong security partnerships that provide security in its own neighborhood and beyond. 

 “We are deeply engaged, and we will remain deeply engaged in a whole range of crisis management issues,” she said. Noting that the EU needs to make better use of its resources, High Representative Ashton said that “…to be more effective in addressing the security challenges we face, we not only need to spend our money and develop our capabilities better, we need to make sure that we use them as part of a joined-up strategic approach to crises and threats. And that means bringing all of the different aspects of EU action together in what I call the comprehensive approach—something which only the EU as a whole can do, and something which I believe makes us an effective foreign and security partner for our allies such as the United States of America."