11/01/2010 (Agence Europe) - In an initial reaction published immediately after the end of the hearing of Catherine Ashton (see other article above), the German Christian Democrat Elmar Brok welcomed the fact that the EU high representative for foreign policy has "recognized the rights of the European Parliament" on CFSP. "The member states no longer decide the foreign policy of the Union on their own", said the former president of the committee on foreign affairs of the EP in a press release. Baroness Ashton's performance "did not cause much enthusiasm, but provides a good working basis" for future relations with the Parliament, said Mr Brok, who particularly welcomed the fact that the Briton had acknowledged that the EP had a right to control, including budgetary control, over the CFSP. This means that the future European External Action Service (EEAS) will not see the light of day unless the Parliament gives its agreement (co-decision procedure) to changing the financial regulation and the staff statutes, he stressed. (H.B./transl.fl)