Parliament agrees compromises on EU foreign service

THE EU’s new foreign service leaped a major hurdle towards becoming a reality when compromises were agreed with the European Parliament on how it will be constituted and run.

For weeks the MEPs’ demands have delayed progress on setting up the union’s newest institution but eventually they won a say over its budget, secured the right to be told in advance of policy decisions and interview senior staff.

Foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said she hoped to have the service functioning by the autumn. It was one of the most significant changes made by the Lisbon Treaty and is designed to better coordinate and reinforce the EU’s role on the world stage.

The service will have embassies in more than 130 countries and will operate with just about 1,100 senior diplomats – tiny compared to Britain, with about 6,000 in that category. There will be several thousand more employed at lower levels.

A third of the staff will be on secondment from member states and the remainder will be permanent EU staff drawn from the current Commission and Council external action services. There should be about 800 openings over the next three years and some of Ireland’s most senior diplomats have already applied for posts.

Newer member states were pushing for quotas of posts in the EAS to be allocated but this will not happen. EU diplomats said it could create problems if, for instance, only countries from behind the former iron curtain could be selected for the embassy in Russia. Staffing arrangements will be reviewed in 2013.

Member states have insisted the total cost of the new service must not exceed that of the current budget and those involved say they expect efficiency savings of about 10% through eliminating duplication that currently exists between the various institutions. About half of the EU’s 11 special representatives in areas like Sudan, Kosovo and Macedonia will lose their jobs as they can be covered from Brussels.

Ms Ashton will head up a top team in a corporate type board and she will have a secretary general, two deputies and one in charge of budgets and administration – a post the Parliament pushed for. Security, including intelligence and military, come under Ms Ashton’s direct command.