Diplomatic service talks proceed in fractious atmosphere

BRUSSELS - Four-way talks on finalising the diplomatic service broke off on Monday evening (10 May) with no real progress between the two main protagonists - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and the European Parliament.

The two-and-a-half-hour-long debate involving Ms Ashton, two MEPs, Spanish foreign minister Miguel Moratinos and institutional affairs commissioner Maros Sefcovic came no closer to finding a compromise on issues identified by the parliament as being essential for its approval of plans for the new service.

Sources close to the discussions suggested the Ashton camp was frustrated at the MEPs' insistence on talking about nitty-gritty details rather than looking to achieve an overall political agreement. From Ms Ashton's point of view, "the talks did not go down that well," said an official.

The foreign policy chief's blueprint for the service was accepted by member states toward the end of last month. The European Commission has also given its political backing. But the wild card in the negotiations is proving to be the European Parliament.

Its co-decision power over changes to the financial and staff regulations - needed to get the service on its feet - gives MEPs a de facto veto.

According to the leader of the Liberal faction in the chamber, Guy Verhofstadt, present at Monday's talks, "last night's discussion ... has unfortunately not led to any great progress on the EEAS [European External Action Service] dossier."

"[The parliament] is prepared to move quickly on these issues - and indeed our initial report on the EEAS dates back to October last year - but so far we have seen little sign of movement from the Council," he noted.

Among the most important demands on the parliament's wish-list - there is about 10 issues on the table - is attaching the diplomatic service to the European Commission in budgetary terms and the appointment of political representatives to deputise the ever-busy Ms Ashton.

Mindful of the recent EU trend towards intergovernmentalism - agreements between member-state governments rather than ones crafted by EU institutions - MEPs say the service must be attached to the commission, otherwise it risks setting a precedent for other "pseudo institutions" in charge of spending vast amounts of EU money but outside immediate political control.

They are also looking for clarity on who should represent Ms Ashton on foreign policy issues and stand firmly opposed to a civil servant taking on the role.

Concessions

Ahead of the talks Ms Ashton sent a letter to the EP budgetary committee in which she assures the purse-string-holding deputies that "parliament will have its full powers of discharge over the EEAS with me in the front line in terms of political accountability."

She has also drafted a statement on political accountability, seen by EUobserver, which tackles the 10 issues on the table due to be discussed with parliament.

The statement makes some important concessions to the assembly, including pledging that parliament will be consulted on the planning of election observation missions; slightly extending the current system of allowing five MEPs access to classified information to other MEPs on a "need to know basis;" and giving information about planned common foreign and security policy missions ahead of their deployment.

Points that are likely red lines for Ms Ashton, who needs to keep member states on her side, include demands by deputies in the budget committee to limit the room for manoeuvre within the Common Foreign and Security Policy budget by making it much more detailed and by stopping portions of funds from being transferred from one part of a mission to another.

Member states are keen to keep the status quo in order to respond quickly to unforeseen events and to prevent MEPs from politicising the CFSP budget.

Looking for a June agreement

For her part, Ms Ashton is keen to get the service fully agreed before EU leaders meet for summit in June so she can start putting the first elements into place before the summer break.

"In the meeting, [Ms Ashton] put forward a number of new elements that she feels go a long way to meeting parliament's demands," said a spokesperson. "She now hopes that the parliament lives up to its responsibilities."

According to an official recounting the position of MEPs, Ms Ashton's political declaration represents a "big step forward," although parliament has been asking for this for "over three months." But the official pointed to "where to put the EAS" and the issue of deputies as areas where "no significant progress" has been made.

The talks are due to resume in two weeks' time.