| National parliamentarians discuss EEAS with MEPs |
 |
 |
|
Heidi Hautala MEP explained in an article for EU Observer: “Officially, the Parliament doesn't have any power over the founding of the European foreign service. The Council merely has to consult the Parliament on the decision. However, the Parliament does have real power over financial and staff rules as well as budgetary decisions, a power it is prepared to use. It is the Parliament that is bringing openness into the decision making and demanding clear justification for the proposals.” “The Parliament and the Council have many common goals. They want to avoid overlapping work and to make sure the foreign service's staff will be highly qualified and equally treated. However, there still are disputes. According to the Parliament, the foreign service should be close to the Commission in order to represent common European views so that the differing views of the member states won't interfere with a common foreign policy”, she added. Mark Furness, of the German Development Institute, wrote an article echoing the concerns of development organisations that High Representative Catherine Ashton’s current proposals for the EEAS will not ensure Policy Coherence for Development. “Ashton’s proposal envisages that the priorities of the Common Foreign and Security Policy will inform development policy and vice-versa. The risk that short-term political or economic interests will overshadow development objectives should not be overstated. It makes sense for the EU to put development at the forefront of its external action rather than policies where its capabilities are limited. This is of course no safeguard – robust measures promoting policy coherence are needed to reduce development’s vulnerability to crisis politics,” he said. Irène Souka, director-general at the Commission in charge of human resources, said at the interparliamentary meeting that Commission would adopt the proposal on a revised statute for officials on the 9th June. Poul Skytte Christoffersen, who is a senior adviser to Ashton on the EEAS, told MEPs at the meeting that the adoption of the budgetary proposal is set to take place on 15th of June. He also thought that 1st October was a realistic date for the launch of the service. However, Elmar Brok MEP insisted that the EEAS must not be set up until full consultations with Parliament have taken place, and MEPs’ concerns addressed. Sources:
 |
Meeting with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in Brussels on Wednesday 2 June, members of EU national parliaments gave their support to the vision of the European External Action Service (EEAS) advocated by rapporteurs Elmar Brok (EPP, DE) and Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, BE). Brok and Verhofstadt have called for the EEAS to be attached to the European Commission for budgetary purposes, and therefore fully accountable to Parliament.
