Germany has proposed giving the EU's foreign service sweeping new powers over neighbourhood policy and development aid.
Its ideas are to be discussed by EU foreign ministers at a meeting in Dublin on Friday (22 March).
But its non-paper, a three-page text dated 1 February and seen by EUobserver, has already been endorsed by 13 other EU countries - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.
It says...
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Already a member? Login hereAndrew Rettman is EUobserver's Foreign Affairs Editor. He has been writing about foreign and security affairs for EUobserver since 2005. He is Polish but grew up in the UK. He has also written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Times of London.
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's Foreign Affairs Editor. He has been writing about foreign and security affairs for EUobserver since 2005. He is Polish but grew up in the UK. He has also written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Times of London.