European Union foreign policy head Catherine Ashton is proposing the creation of a new diplomatic service that will take over some of the functions performed by the European Commission, possibly including aid management, according to The Irish Times.
The new diplomatic corps will be called the European External Action Service and will be placed under Ashton’s office. EEAS, according to the proposal, will help and render “coherent policy advice and briefing” to the president of the European Council as well as the European Commission’s president and members.
The plan includes transferring the commission’s external relations division and delegations to EEAS. It suggested that EEAS oversee country aid allocations, strategy papers and regional indicative programs, and the commission lead “the third and subsequent stages” in development cooperation.
“The programming and implementation cycle will be managed in close co-ordination between the EEAS, delegations and the relevant services of the commission, and between the high representative [Ashton] in her role as vice-president and the competent commissioners,” the proposal said.
EU ambassadors will confer over the proposal in Brussels March 3, while EU foreign ministers will hold their own discussions on the issue this weekend in Cordoba, Spain.
