UK foreign minister William Hague has pledged support for the EU's diplomatic service and economic growth agenda in a surprisingly mild policy statement.
"It is true that we in the Conservative Party were not persuaded of the case for the new EU External Action Service as a service, but its existence is now a fact ...Britain's Conservative government will work closely with the high representative, whom we wish well," he wrote on Tuesday (18 May)
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.