Stockholm, 27/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - The post of High Representative for CFSP "does not mean the creation of a new centre of power" nor must it "complicate the operation between institutions"; this year, "much of my work has been determined by a series of specific mandates from the European Council", and this post "fills and institutional void". This is what asserted Javier Solana this Friday before the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and the Central Defence and Society Federation, when signalling that, over the last twelve months, he visited 40 countries (not counting the Balkans) and took part in 17 summits. The journeys are not the ends in themselves, but "we must remain present when it is a case of discussing issues affecting security and international order", he said, while underlining that "many instruments used by the EU for CFSP are in the hands of the Commission", and that the coordination with it is key to the success of the EU's external action. One of the first tasks of the Swedish Presidency will be to organise the annual debate on the external priorities of the Union before the preparation of the budget by the Commission, debate that will be "a small but important step towards greater coherence in this area", he said.
Mr Solana also raised the problem of the "Top Secret" classification of ESDP documents (very sensitive in Sweden), asserting that: "the introduction of European military capabilities will require at a given time difficult decisions on the deployment, with implications for the physical safety of European troupes; - the restrictions will affect a very small number of highly confidential documents and will nearly only apply to documents not coming from the Council, but, normally, from NATO or other members countries.