| No agreement on EEAS this week |
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The main negotiators from the EP, Guy Verhofstadt and Elmar Brok, have resisted Ashton’s push for a quick deal on the diplomatic service, reminding her that it is not the EP’s fault that the service has yet to be established. According to the negotiators, the EP will not accept a deal that does not include the community method and sufficient budgetary and political control for the EP. Three main issues remain open. The first is about the nature of the service. Member states want to see an independent service with its own budget while MEPs want it attached to the Commission. Second issue concerns the staffing; how to sort out the percentages of nationals and how long national diplomats can stay in the service. MEPs want to ensure that national diplomats from member states do not outnumber EU officials in the Service. Thirdly, the MEPs want to ensure coherence in development policy. They are worried that the lines of command seem to be blurred in the current proposal for the service concerning the programming and execution of the annual multi-billion euro policies. “The EP knows where the red line is and it is now up to the Council and Ms Ashton to come to a compromise in the negotiations”, said Brok. Source:  |
MEPs have denied that a political agreement on the diplomatic service would be possible before the EU leaders’ summit on 17 June. Ms Ashton had been pushing hard for political agreement from the political groups for the EEAS blueprint by Friday 11 June. This would have made it possible for foreign ministers to signal their approval before taking the proposal to the summit table.
