Brussels, 05/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 4 September the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, called for greater union between the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Commission and member states in order to be more effective in the domain of foreign affairs. “In order to maintain our European model and to retain our influence in our neighbourhood and at the global level we must increasingly work together and combine all our policies in a comprehensive and coherent manner”, Barroso said during his speech to the European heads of delegation. “That is why we need to unite the geographical outreach and presence of the European External Action Service to the thematic knowledge and expertise of the Commission”, he said. In his opinion, “the combination of Commission instruments, EEAS action and member states' cooperation can make a real difference” in strengthening relations with the EU's strategic partners and its neighbourhood, and also in the thematic subjects it defends. “Political relations without a substantive agenda are empty rhetoric; substantive priorities without a political framework and a diplomatic network are abstractions. It is precisely the combining of these two that gives us our strength and our capacity to act”, he said.
Defence of the EEAS. Although the European External Action Service is often criticised, Barroso took its defence. “The EEAS is one of the best creations of the Lisbon Treaty… We cannot expect from the beginning everything to be perfect, because we know that when we change habits it takes some time to see the results” he said, stressing that in his opinion there is a “very good level of cooperation with our member states”. (CG/transl.fl)