Sunday

28th May 2023

Countries want joint EU consulates, survey says

Several member states want the EU’s overseas embassies to provide joint consular services, an EU “audit” has found.

“All the member states, especially the smaller and medium-sized ones who do not have traditional embassies all over the world, were of the opinion … that EU representations should be the focal point where consular services could be done, including the issuing of visas and, especially, the protection of interests of EU citizens abroad”, Szabolcs Fazakas, a Hungarian member of the EU Court of Auditors, told press in Brussels on Monday (30 June).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

He spoke after sending out questionnaires to 15 EU states as part of a one-off study on the creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS).

The list includes: Austria; Bulgaria; the Czech Republic, Cyprus; Estonia; Hungary; Italy; Latvia; the Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Slovakia; Spain; Sweden; and the UK. Three did not reply, but the court does not say which ones.

Fazakas noted there is nothing in EU law to mandate consular co-operation.

He also said the EEAS “does not have the financial resources” in its current €520-million-a-year budget to launch such a scheme.

The auditors were forgiving of what they called the “fairly young” institution.

They noted the European Commission should take some of the blame for management problems because it runs large parts of EEAS day-to-day life in, for instance, human resources and IT.

They blamed member states for the foreign service’s “top-heavy” structure - it has more than twice the normal number of highly-paid officials - because EU states pushed to get top posts for seconded diplomats.

They did criticise EEAS chief Catherine Ashton’s management style, however.

The report says her decision to personally interview all candidates for top diplomatic posts wasted money because candidates often flew to Brussels only to find out she was too busy to see them after all (on 114 occasions).

It notes she has “23 direct reporting lines” to her office, instead of delegating.

It also says her staff often submitted documents “late” and at “short notice” before high-level meetings.

This was partly because the EEAS never drafted a “strategic framework” for EU foreign policy, meaning that each new foreign development prompted “intense debates” in Brussels.

But it was also due to bureaucracy.

The auditors said that before any document went out “the [internal] validation process took an average of four days and included up to five validators (deputy head of division, head of division, director, managing director, member of the corporate board) before reaching the cabinet, where there is a possibility that the text may be redrafted.”

They acknowledged that Ashton had plenty on her plate.

But they noted that she missed two-thirds of European Commission meetings. She did not once chair a group which brought together EU commissioners with foreign-linked portfolios, such as climate change or humanitarian aid.

The report also raised concerns on access to information.

It noted that just 70 out of 140 EU ambassadors have security clearance to read classified files. Only 23 out of 140 embassies have the IT systems to circulate files marked “confidential” or “secret”.

The audit cited replies by Ashton’s people.

The EEAS said “consular protection remains a national competence”. But it noted that EU embassies in Lebanon, in the Philippines, and in South Sudan did help to evacuate EU citizens whose countries did not have a mission in place.

It added that EU countries never gave Ashton “a clear mandate” to draw up a foreign policy strategy.

It also said the EEAS is doing “a complete reworking of the classified information systems … with the objective to transform the still heterogeneous current systems in one ‘EEAS Corporate’ system” which “should be operational in 2016”.

The Luxembourg-based Court of Auditors' reports are not binding, but its spokesman said EU institutions have a "good track record" of implementing recommendations.

He noted the EEAS will "probably" see another management audit three to five years from now.

Opinion

How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon

The EU led support for the waste management crisis in Lebanon, spending around €89m between 2004-2017, with at least €30m spent on 16 solid-waste management facilities. However, it failed to deliver.

Latest News

  1. How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon
  2. EU criminal complicity in Libya needs recognition, says expert
  3. Europe's missing mails
  4. MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024
  5. PFAS 'forever chemicals' cost society €16 trillion a year
  6. EU will 'react as appropriate' to Russian nukes in Belarus
  7. The EU needs to foster tech — not just regulate it
  8. EU: national energy price-spike measures should end this year

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us