Brussels, 05/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - In the last days of his nearly ten years tenure at the European Commission, first as the EU enlargement commissioner from 1999 to 2004 and then as the industry commissioner, Germany's Günter Verheugen has expressed concern about the future of the European Union's foreign policy, notwithstanding the fact that the Lisbon Treaty has introduced new structures and the new job of the EU high representative to boost the EU27's foreign policy. In an interview in the 4 February edition of the Stuttgarter Zeitung, Verheugen says a much more effective form of foreign representation is required. He fears that the new high representative, Catherine Ashton, will not get the backing she needs from the member states to take action to ensure the EU speaks with a strong voice and gets a uniform message across around the world. Verheugen said he was hugely concerned that because of the member states, Ashton would not be able to pull the weight she should under the Lisbon Treaty because EU heads of state want to keep foreign policy to themselves. The cancelling of the planned summit with the United States sends out a clear warning that the EU is losing ground on the world stage, added Verheugen. Later in the interview, Verheugen defended the decision to allow Bulgaria and Romania to join the EU club in 2007 despite shortcomings in the two countries' preparations. Surprisingly, Verheugen says that there is still “concern” about and “suspicion” of Germans in the EU institutions, explaining that as a German, people keep a close eye on one, not simply because one is from a big member state but because of being German. (H.B./transl.fl)