"A story of institutional timidity," Tom Spencer (UK, EPP) called the European Union's common foreign and security policy (CFSP). He was lamenting the EU's failure to act effectively on the world stage. He worried that European citizens were disillusioned with the CFSP after its failure to achieve positive results in the wars of the former Yugoslavia. He argued that the EU should, as a last resort, intervene militarily in troubled areas and that there should be closer links with the Western European Union.
He called for both the European Parliament and national parliaments to play a role in foreign policy, which could not be just the preserve of an over-mighty executive, or a game for diplomats. "It concerned a wide range of issues, such as security, human rights and the environment. He acknowledged that some progress on the CFSP had been made, but it was not enough. Mr Spencer had hoped that the Amsterdam summit would improve the situation but he was not holding his breath.