Southern Europe needs a 'V4' equivalent

Pol Morillas, Director of CIDOB, publishes this op-ed together with the directors and presidents of several leading think thanks from southern Europe – Thomas Gomart (IFRI), Ferdinando Nelli Feroci (IAI), George Pagoulatos (ELIAMEP), Charles Powell (Real Instituto Elcano), and Nuno Severiano Texeira (IPRI – NOVA) – based on their joint publication on the role southern Europe should play after the pandemic and the war in Ukraine: “After a decade of crises whose impact was heavily felt on southern Europe, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain must realise that a common approach better serves their national interests than isolated efforts. To sustain a coherent approach, cooperation at their annual multilateral meetings must be reinforced and more systematic bilateral meetings should be arranged, forging common approaches and putting forward new policy proposals. As their vision is increasingly becoming the EU's mainstream, southern European member states should seek to translate growing relevance into greater impact through closer political coordination.”