The Basque country's foreign policy agenda

Basque society has, throughout its history, maintained a tradition of high-level external relations with the outside world, thanks to its own institutions and to the representatives of its economic, social or cultural bodies.

Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu, President of the Basque government, speaking in November 2006 at the Hôtel de Ville on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the opening of the Brussels Delegation of the Basque Country/Euskadi

The Basque community’s integration into the European Union and the growing phenomenon of globalisation both mean that nowadays the outside world is also directly involved in the everyday life of Euskadi, touching on its economic, social, political and cultural relations. This is particularly true of the European Union, because domestic policies are increasingly influenced and conditioned by EU-level decisions reached in Brussels.

This has been accompanied by the many changes that have generally had an impact on society, making it more interdependent and transnational, so that classic state structures are questioned, with the state no longer the exclusive protagonist of international relations.

The European Commission has made its own contribution to these developments with “think global, act local” and its recognition that sub-state entities have their own essential contribution to make to the construction of Europe because it is they who have direct contact with their citizens.
This is a challenge that the Basque Country has readily taken up, sharing the determination of EU founding fathers like Robert Schuman to have a presence that extends beyond its borders and trying always to develop good relations with nations and regions in Europe or elsewhere.

It is this external side of public policy that has traditionally been of primary importance to the political undertakings of Basque institutions, paralleling such global change as the spreading of information technology and the impact of supra-national factors on the economy.

Euskadi has in this context demonstrated a particular style of international dynamism, so much so that all the Basque government ministries and the community’s economic and social agents are currently working on some kind of activity abroad. Being a small country permits a high degree of flexibility, making us adaptable to constantly changing circumstances. But this same dimension also makes us more vulnerable to international change, which means that we have to act in a co-ordinated, proactive manner, while at the same time having often to anticipate events in order to shape an effective Basque foreign policy.

This process has led the various Basque government ministries, together with the other actors involved, to develop foreign policies that defend and promote our sectoral interests, while also increasing knowledge beyond our own borders of Basque affairs. This greater presence on the international stage has also made it possible for Euskadi to extend its collaboration and solidarity to more disadvantaged peoples elsewhere.

Today, practically all of our government ministries are working on foreign projects relevant to their own activities, and we see this as an essential complement to their home responsibilities.

In international terms; the Basque Country is aiming to:
• achieve direct representation in international institutions
• implement international treaties and agreements on all aspects affecting its own competences
• grant authorisations during the process of formalising these treaties and agreements whenever they affect its competences

Europe is the focal point of these political actions
The Basque Country’s aspirations include achieving the following objectives:
• Direct representation in European Union bodies
• The direct defence of its own interests and competences throughout all processes taking place within the European Union, including the possibility of appealing to the European Court of Justice
• The transposition of Community directives in its areas of competence
• The constitution of a single electoral constituency in European Parliamentary elections

Moreover, by applying the principle of subsidiarity, the Basque Country is endeavouring to promote cross-border and interregional co-operation within the European Union as a basic instrument for the construction of a Europe based on democratic, social and federative principles, in which recognition of the citizenry forming its different peoples and regional communities constitutes a factor of cultural wealth and democratic expansion.

The Foreign Policy Action covers five interlinked areas:

- European Union (Participation in EU institutions and bodies)
- Cross-Border and inter-regional cooperation (Multilateral inter-regional co-operation, bilateral inter-regional co-operation and Aquitaine-Euskadi cross-border co-operation)
- Basque Communities abroad: 158 Basque Centres- Euskal Etxeak around the world ,
- Basque Delegations abroad: six Basque Delegations Madrid, Brussels, and Latin America (Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela) − With future Basque Delegations in: New York, Paris, Berlin
- Sectoral areas (related to industry, agriculture or co-operation in development).