Brussels, 19/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - On 8 December, ministers from 12 member states (Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden) wrote to the EU high representative for foreign affairs with the goal of “further improving the efficiency of the European External Action Service (EEAS) and helping to develop its full potential”.
Although they recognise that implementation of the EEAS “is a complex process that needs time”, the ministers put forward their proposals for improvement based around five different areas: preparation of Foreign Affairs Councils, coordination with the European Commission, internal EEAS procedures, EU delegations and involving member states.
They propose improving the way in which Councils are prepared, by developing an annual calendar containing all the different political priorities, as well as putting forward preparatory policies or documents on decision-making, “which will be distributed well in advance”. They are also concerned about whether the EEAS has the appropriate structure conducive to sufficient cooperation with the Commission services. They emphasise that a European delegation can only function efficiently if its head receives “the necessary information in time”. Finally, the ministers would like greater coordination and cooperation between EU delegations and embassies, together with “adequate representation” of national diplomats.
The spokesman for Catherine Ashton, Michael Mann, welcomed this positive and constructive contribution to the development of the EEAS and explained that several of these proposals were in line with what Ashton would be presenting in the next few days on the balance sheet of the EEAS' first year in operation. He also explained that “a lot of these proposals have already been put into practice”.
Nonetheless, one European diplomat said that the EEAS would need years to get started. According to this diplomat, its members, from the Commission and the Council, do not have a sufficiently political profile: “National diplomats are a little lost in all this…Ms Ashton is a reflection of a weak and apathetic system lacking resources”. (CG/transl.fl)