Brussels, 08/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Commission adopted its contribution to the European Council of 15 and 16 June, a document entitled 'Europe in the World - Some Practical Proposals for Greater Coherence, Effectiveness and Visibility' (the full document will be published in our newsletter tomorrow). The Commission resolutely sets out its strategy in the document for creating an outcome-based EU in the field of foreign policy to respond to the current deadlock over the draft European constitution. At a press conference, the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said he would have preferred to have had the constitutional treaty in force because it sets out everything that is needed to make the EU's foreign policy more effective, credible and coherent, namely a new EU Foreign Minister who would also be Vice-President of the Commission, a permanent President of the European Council to represent the EU in the CFSP, an EU Foreign Service and a unique legal status for the EU. However, he said, since there will not be a constitution for a while, other practical solutions will have to be found, making the most of the options available under existing treaties for improving cooperation among the European Commission, Council and Member States. He said the impact of the EU's foreign policy was currently undermined by lack of visibility and continuity of representation in the rest of the world and despite undeniable success with enlargement, the Neighbourhood Policy, development aid and the like, the EU's weight in the world is not proportional to its economic and trade importance. In order to remedy this under the existing treaties, Community and intergovernmental methods would need to be combined, said Barroso, with the aim of reaching pragmatic approaches, rather than launching debate into institutional theories and dogma. He said the Commission did not want to deprive the Council and Member States of their powers in the field of the CFSP, in the same way as it would not allow the Council to interfere in the Commission's powers, but through mutual respect of reciprocal powers it was possible to achieve better pragmatic cooperation in areas where the EU's internal policies have an external dimension, like energy, the environment, justice and security. Barroso said the European Commission's proposals had been inspired by the draft constitution, particularly in terms of making better use of the High Representative/Secretary General (HR/SG) in the Commission's work, but he said the Commission had not done any cherry-picking because it would not be legitimate or wide to use the back door to apply some parts of the constitution.
The President of the European Commission said he was confident the proposals would be welcomed at next week's European Council. He said he had briefed EU foreign ministers on the basics of the document at their meeting in Klosterneuburg, Austria, on 27 and 28 May, which had gone down well.
The Commission is suggesting the following practical steps:
1) Better strategic planning. Every six months, the incoming President of the European Council and Foreign Minister of the country holding the Presidency, the President of the European Commission, the EU External Relations Commissioner and the High Representative should meet informally to review the EU's external action. The Commission believes 'the principle of joint papers for policy discussions in the Council and its working groups should be established, based on intensified cooperation and contacts between the Commission service and Council Policy Unit.' The Commission wants to be more closely associated with preparing EU summits with major third countries. The document suggests improving coordination on international bodies and notes that the Commission intends to improve the internal coherence and effectiveness of its input to EU external policy. It will beef up the role of the External Relations group of Commissioner under the authority of Jose Manuel Barroso, for example, in defining strategic priorities and this group will be extended to other Commissioners. The Commission will invite the HR/SG to work with it in terms of strategic planning. The Commission will contribute more effectively to the work of COREPER, the Political and Security Committee, Council working groups and European Parliament committees.
2) Increasing effectiveness and impact through better delivery. The Commission suggests making better use of the network of 130 Commission delegations, EU Special Representatives and Member States' embassies 'to convey clear, single messages to partners' about EU policies. The Commission says implementing faster and more flexible financial procedures and procurement systems is important for contracts to manage the CFSP budget and crisis management funds (it has already unveiled proposals on simplifying the financial regulations to this effect).
3) Better cooperation between EU institutions and Member States. The Commission has begun developing a strengthened programme for exchange of personnel with diplomatic services of the Member States and the staff of the Council secretariat. It also suggests that Member States should themselves launch national diplomatic training schemes for the staff of EU institutions responsible for external relations issues. The Commission and the Council may also include national diplomats in Community training programmes and Member States may give more intensive training for national officials regarding European matters, the Commission suggests. According to the document, the Council and the Commission should apply the so-called “double-hatting” formula of head of delegation and EU special representatives more frequently, for example in the Western Balkans. The EU special representatives should be more closely associated in the Commission's activities and visits. The EU should also give further consideration to sharing of premises and support services for Member States and EU external representations in third countries. Cooperation between Member States in the field of consular assistance should also be improved, mainly in crisis situations.
4) Improved accountability and visibility. The document suggests more regular exchanges of views on external policy should be organised between the relevant bodies of the European Parliament and the HR/SG, as well as within the Commission itself. Special EU representatives and the heads of delegation should provide a direct contribution to the work of the European Parliament. The Commission also suggests strengthening “public diplomacy” in third countries in order to explain and promote Community policies and models, and increase the visibility of external action and development aid. Within the EU, it would be better to inform citizens on EU external policy.