Europe's centre-left urges majority voting in some EU foreign policy

Europe's main centre-left parties believe the European Union should gradually transition to majority voting in some areas of foreign policy, according to a draft paper of the Party of European Socialists (PES) regional grouping obtained by Reuters.

EU foreign policy currently requires the unanimous agreement of all member states which critics say hampers decision making and is particularly problematic in times of major crises like Russia's war against Ukraine.

Smaller countries typically fear their national interests would not be protected without a veto.

The socialist leaders expected to descend on Berlin on Friday for the two-day PES summit include the government heads of Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Centre-left parties form part of 13 of the EU's 27 governments at the moment, including Germany's three-way coalition under Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz who will on Saturday hold a key note speech.

Europe's socialists believe EU rules on national state aid should be eased to provide more financial leeway to combat the devastating impact of the current energy crisis, according to the draft of the PES summit closing statement.

Speculation on energy markets should be reigned in and price caps in the energy sector introduced, according to the paper.