Copenhagen, 12/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 9 March, foreign affairs ministers agreed to create the post of a High Representative for human rights. The High Representative should enable the EU to speak with a single voice in this field and could be appointed by the Foreign Affairs Council at the end of June, according to one diplomatic source. The Danish minister for foreign affairs, Villy Sovndal, declared at the end of the Informal Council on Saturday, 10 March, that “we are very happy to have been able to agree on an EU policy for human rights, which will undoubtedly be translated into concrete measures in June, together with a representative responsible for this area”. He added: “It is very important that this question should be a guideline for what we do. When we talk about aid to countries, about trade, and also when we are allied with other countries that are involved in these issues, we have to be stronger”
Developing the EEAS
Ministers also discussed improving the European External Action Service (EEAS) in periods of economic crisis. One diplomat explained that, “it is not being critical to say that we can do better”. According to the latter, in the context of the EEAS, “the glass is half empty and half full”, pointing out that they had started out with nothing. Sovndal explained that, “we are very pleased with the EEAS' work. It is a very young child, it is one year old but if we look at the number of issues it has tackled, Europe is a stakeholder in increasing numbers of areas and is speaking with one voice. The EEAS is doing an excellent job, congratulations to Catherine Ashton”.
The ministers consider that the EEAS played a positive role in discussions on Kosovo/Serbia, Iran and in the ongoing talks on the Middle East peace process. They believe that the EEAS should give priority to examining neighbourhood policy and the Balkans, Euro-Atlantic ties and the Caucasus, following the elections in Russia. The French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, pointed out that, “Europe is advancing well. What Ashton has done on Iran, Bosnia and in the Balkans… in short, the EU, is looking good and is taking action. We are carrying out an operation in the Sahel”. He said that the idea that, “Europe is powerless and does not work well”, is wrong.
Although, however, some consider that European coordination is working well and that European and national diplomats sometimes share the same building, while other countries believe that staff numbers should be cut at the HQ in Brussels and that there should be more personnel working in the delegations. Juppé said that, “relations between the EEAS, national services and different countries should be improved and national embassies and delegations have to work together, to help multilateral and bilateral development to ensure that our work is going in the same direction”.
Alternative policy to sanctions
On Saturday 10 March, ministers discussed the way in which the EU could improve the way in which changes are introduced in the countries on the top of the foreign policy agenda, “through political and economic pressure, as well as incentives”. According to one European diplomat, Syria, Belarus, Iran and perhaps the Ukraine were tackled during the discussion. The French minister explained that, “we had a discussion on whether sanctions are useful or not. Sanctions are not a panacea. In certain situations we can either do nothing or use the tactic of sanctions, which can have a certain effectiveness”. (CG/trans/fl)