100 posts
MEPs divided over success of EU diplomatic corps
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MEPs are split on the performance of the external action service (EAS) in the first year of its operation. They are equally divided on how the person who heads the service, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, has performed in her high-profi...
The digital potential of EU diplomacy and the European External Action Service (EEAS)
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I was asked by a friend working on a thesis on EU diplomacy to share some insights on the digital potential of the recently established European External Action Service (EEAS). These are a few ideas I have been toying with and which I hope will be o...
SEAE : les luminaires français plus forts que la diplomatie européenne
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Qu’est-ce qu’on ferait sans les acronymes à Bruxelles ? En voilà un joli : SEAE. Bien connu des aficionados de la chose européenne, et complètement inconnu de 99,9% des Européens. SEAE pour Service européen pour l’action euro...
EU've just been Ashtonised!
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An interesting op-ed in Le Monde from Bastien Nivet of the Paris-based IRIS think-tank notes, "A new notion is beginning to dominate the debate on the international action of the European Union: the Ashtonisation of the EU. Inspired by the surname of...
Low ambition for the High Representative
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Praised in Libya, the EU's foreign minister faces trouble at home...
The invisible Ashton
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The american blogger EurAmerican ascertains that none of the major american media (besides CNN) covered Catherin Ashtons visit in Washington through a Google search. It’s not entirely true that they didn’t mention, as you can see in exam...
EU Diplomacy: More than the Common Foreign and Security Policy
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EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, is not unaccustomed to criticism. A fresh wave of critique was recently dished out by the Belgium foreign minister Steven Vanackere. Ashton was attacked for her “silence” on important issues. Vanackere a...
Bearish and Bullish on the EEAS
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The transatlantic commentariat has said much about the early successes and failures of the European External Action Service (EEAS) and its chief, Lady Catherine Ashton. What follows are two diametrically opposed opinions on how EU foreign policy's be...
EU Foreign Policy: Kum-bay-ah or Machiavelli?
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The EU’s fledgling External Action Service has regularly been mocked for its naivety and ‘Kum-bay-ah’ approach; all too often it seems to base its polices on projecting a positive image of the EU, occasionally backed by some suitably bland stat...
Some thoughts on the new logo of the European External Action Service (EEAS)
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As the European Voice reports, the European External Action Service now has an official logo (shown left) which now “decorates” the EEAS website and the business cards of its staff. But the logo looks a little strange to me, and I cannot place my...
The sly return of ‘civilian power’?
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Is ‘civilian power’ making a come-back? Why does Catherine Ashton seem so unwilling to have anything at all to do with supporting the enhancement of European military power?
Organisation Chart for the European External Action Service
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I can’t figure out how to post a legible chart, you therefore need to view the chart on the EEAS web site (click here) to fully comprehend (if possible) the organisational structure of the EEAS. Presumably this is a work … Continue read...
Complaining about the EEAS
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Not complaining about the news coming from Egypt these days. What is taking place there offers real chances for democracy. But I don’t know much about Egypt in particular, and...
If this is young Arabs' 1989, Europe must be ready with a bold response | Timothy Garton Ash
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What happens across the Mediterranean matters more to the EU than the US. Yet so far its voice has been inaudibleEurope's future is at stake this week on Cairo's Tahrir Square, as it was on Prague's Wenceslas Square in 1989. This time, the reaso...
Is Jerzy Buzek the True Voice of EU’s Foreign Policy?
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Fellow bloggers Kosmopolit and John Worth have already weighed in on the (lack of) reaction by the European Union on the events unfolding in Egypt. Their analysis of the relative inactivity of the EU’s institutions is worth reading. What I …...
Ashton: you are the weakest link. Goodbye.
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Foreign Ministers of EU countries are meeting today in Brussels, while at the same time protests against Hosni Mubarak in Egypt enter their 7th day. On his way to the Brussels meeting Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted this: The right questi...
EU diplomacy on Egypt: Business as usual
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As the story in Egypt unfolds it is interesting (and depressing as usual) to watch EU diplomacy in practice. Especially with all the talk about the "one voice in the world" and the reforms of the Lisbon Treaty (EEAS etc.). Well, "quiet diplomacy" i...
European diplomacy to launch unprecedented exchange programme
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EEAS, the European External Action service, has officially launched only recently but seems to be bursting with international ambition already. BJ reporters were able to take a peak at a top secret internal report commissioned by non other than the H...
Ashton appoints EEAS Africa director
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British diplomat's appointment completes regional management of EEAS. Nicholas Westcott, the UK's ambassador to Ghana, has been appointed managing director for Africa in the European External Action Service. The appointment was announced by Catherine...
Participation in EU Commission meetings: A measure of Ashton’s lack of influence?
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[…] I took a look at the Commission website and the page with the Commission's meeting protocols for 2010 in order to see how Ashton's participation rate was in comparison to others. […] I went through all the protocols of the Barroso II Commissi...
What does the EU want from Liechtenstein?
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Our latest blog entry on EU-Lichtenstein relations looked at what the web pages of the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the EU delegation to Switzerland and Liechtenstein offer interested citizens: 'EU communication on EEA and EFTA member...
Lessons from WikiLeaks
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The classified documents leaked from the US State Department will cause a lot of embarrassment for a lot of people – the British government minister denounced as a “hound dog” around women, for a start – but is there anything to be learned be...
Time to rescue the EU’s External Action Service from the European Commission
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The air in Brussels is thick with a storm over the European External Action Service, basically caused by the European Commission trying to break its word. If unchecked, the course the Commission is taking would seriously damage the EAS’s potent...
HR Catherine Ashton nominates the top management of EEAS
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Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission has today announced the appointment of Pierre Vimont as the Executive Secretary General of the future External Ac...
EU Parliament Pushes Forward on EEAS Final Legislation
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The European Parliament voted in a decisive show-of-hands vote today that it will move forward with the finalization of plans on the European External Action Service (EEAS). The vote was focused on relaxing staffing rules, following early demand...
EU “diplomats’ village” may be up to standard
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Foreign service professionals from several Member States had been becoming increasingly nervous about joining the European External Action Service being established by the Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Th...
Does Europe have a foreign policy yet?
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I wrote earlier this month about the European Union's bid to get full speaking rights at this year's United Nations meetings. That effort failed: The EU hoped to get the new diplomatic season off to a flying start with a UN General Assembly res...
Hearings of Diplomats – List of Priorities or What?
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The Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has decided to ask the EU’s new ambassadors to China, Georgia, Japan, Lebanon and Pakistan and the EU Special Representative (EUSR) to Sudan to come in for hearings. The aim is to …...
Irish influence in the EU
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Something on the European Movement Ireland page twigged my interest towards the end of last week. On Wednesday the Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs announced 27 new Heads of EU Delegation and 1 Deputy Head of EU Delegation...
Old boys club dominates EU diplomacy
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Belgian, Dutch, Italian, French and German men make up the lion's share of EU ambassadors abroad, a new study timed to coincide with a major recruitment round for the European External Action Service (EEAS), has said.
The Role of the High Representative and the EU's CFSP
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Dan Smith has written a very interesting and well thought-out post on the state of the External Action Service (EAS) and its potential as well as what aims it should have. The Institute of International and European Affairs had a guest lecture on the...
The EAS: what it takes to succeed
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Click here to read a blog post by Dan Smith, Secretary General of International Alert, on the European External Action Service.
Agreement on EU External Action Service- DFID views
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A structure for the European External Action Service (EEAS) was agreed by William Hague and fellow EU foreign ministers.The new service, a product of the Lisbon Treaty, aims to strengthen the EU’s external reach and create a more joined-up approach...
Rubbing our noses in it
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The new EU Ambassador to the United States has started off very well. Very diplomatically.Joao Vale de Almeida, for it is he has dug right in. According to the Washington post he has finally answered Kissinger's supposedly plaintive call,"In this are...
Summary of the Council Decision on the Organization of the European External Action Service
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The Council Decision establishing the organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service (EEAS) has been published in the Official Journal. The decision was adopted after some negotiations with the European Parliament, which, althou...
European Commission’s External Action Service approved by Council amidst protest
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The European Commission’s so-called Diplomacy Services, or EEAS for European External Action Service, has been approved by the Council yesterday, amidst quite some rumblings from different sides of the EU bubble. But not everyone rejoices, far...
Battle joined over new EU diplomatic service
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Any day now the advertisements should go out for the top jobs in Brussels’ new diplomatic service – the European External Action Service, as it will be boringly known. If the optimists are right, the service will be anything but boring. It’s th...
Will New Diplomatic Service Help EU To Speak With One Voice?
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The European Union is just months away from launching a new unified diplomatic service. But any hopes that the new structure will bring greater focus and effectiveness to the bloc's foreign policy are probably premature, analysts say. READ MORE...
European Parliament accepts the establishment of the EEAS
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The Parliament’s acceptance of the EEAS, the EU’s diplomatic corps, on July 8 was hailed as a ‘historic’ moment by the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Of course, such words are necessary on special occasions. Nevertheless, Ashto...
We are where we are
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The phrase "we are where we are" was oft repeated in this evening’s debate in the House of Commons – but sadly for many MPs it seems that ‘where we are’ was anywhere other than the Green benches judging by the numbers in attendance.While a Ha...
E.U. Diplomatic Service Moves Closer to Birth
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After months of delay, the creation of the European Union’s new diplomatic service took a significant step forward Monday, opening the way for it to start phasing in operations by autumn. The new diplomatic service will employ several thousand dipl...
The European Diplomatic Service – Yet Another Win for the European Parliament
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There is now a political agreement between the European Parliament and the Council on the proposal for a Council Decision establishing the organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service. But wait: why do we need a political agre...
Sixth time's a charm as Ashton strikes deal with MEPs on her future EEAS
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Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, has finally reached agreement with the European Parliament's main negotiators on the EU's future diplomatic service, European External Action Service (EEAS).The agreement, concluded after t...
