| EU Commission and Member States battle for control of EEAS |
 |
 |
|
On the issue of what role the EEAS will play in development policy, Ashton has outlined three possible options for cooperation with Latin America, Asia and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Option one and two are proposing so-called horizontal splits regarding the division of responsibilities for the programming cycle between the EEAS and the Commission. The first would be that the EEAS becomes the major actor in EU development policy, deciding overall strategy, country allocations and indicative programming of national and regional activities. The second possibility would set the split higher with overall strategy and country allocations agreed by the EEAS and gives the responsibility of national and regional indicative programmes to the Commission. In the third option the EEAS is taking responsibility for Latin America and Asia while the Commission continues to manage development cooperation with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. In all options, the implementation of all development policies would remain under the responsibility of the Commission. The Commission is strongly opposed to any reduction in its competency over development policy, particularly the programming of ACP cooperation through the European Development Fund (EDF). It also wants to retain its own country desks for European neighbouring countries, while Ashton proposes to include European Neighbourhood policies in the EEAS. Moreover, the Commission wants to have delegation staff continue to report back to their Commission directorate-general rather than to the EEAS headquarters. Meanwhile, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have complained that they are being shut out of the negotiation process for setting up the EEAS. The working group advising Catherine Ashton on the setting up of the EEAS contains no MEPs. Following pressure by MEPs, Parliament was at least granted indirect access to the group via an official from the secretariat of the Parliament's foreign affairs committee who is attending the meetings as observer. This Wednesday at the plenary session in Strasbourg, Parliament will debate and vote on a report drafted by Italian MEP Gabriele Albertini which calls for a greater Parliamentary role in shaping the EU's foreign and security policy. In particular, the report demands that staff appointed to the EEAS be put through Parliamentary hearings in the same way that Commissioners are. Sources:
 |
The turf war between the European Commission and the Member States over the new European External Action Service (EEAS) has stepped up over the past week, following the leaking of a draft paper on the EEAS and a "vision paper" by High Representative Catherine Ashton which proposes giving a dominant role to the Council of Ministers (representing Member States) in the new diplomatic service.
