The European External Action Service
The EU is committed to achieving a more democratic and effective European foreign policy
The EEAS – a critical review Interview with Elmar Brok MEP, Chairman AFET Committee, European Parliament, Strasbourg/Brussels
The European: Mr Brok, you are back in the Chair of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. From the outset you have been highly committed to making the European External Action Service (EEAS) an instrument for providing powerful added value to the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and to ensuring influence and scrutiny on the part of the European Parliament. Are you satisfied with the results of the EEAS so far? Elmar Brok: The EEAS is still in the process of developing its full capacities. It is a huge step forward for European foreign policy as it finally embodies the concept of the one voice policy within an institution. However, we need to be patient. To build up a foreign service is a huge task. We in the European institutions, as well as the officials in the member state institutions, must adapt and learn how to use this new service most efficiently. This will take some time. The European: Generally speaking, then, you recognise the role of this service in giving the European institutions and nations the chance to deliver a single EU message on key political issues. You underlined this in your report voted by the EP in September. Could you elaborate? Elmar Brok: The main message of my report was to signal to the citizens of Europe that the EU is committed to achieving a more democratic and effective European foreign policy that puts their interests at its core: i.e. the promotion of security, economic prosperity and democracy starting in our neighbourhood and in our broader external relations. In doing this I believe it confirms the argument that for the EU’s external action to be coherent, effective and give value for money it must be better coordinated and clear strategic priorities starting with our commitment to the Neighbourhood have to be identified. I offered our full support for the High Representative/Vice President (HR/VP) to show leadership in representing the security and economic interests of the Union by addressing serious challenges in particular in the negotiations with Iran, in responding to the Arab Spring and in working to stop the bloodshed in Syria as well as in upholding democracy in our Neighbourhood. The European: Let me focus on three of the points you made in the report, starting with the “appropriate mechanism” that you wish to see created. What do you aim to achieve and what line should be taken? Elmar Brok: We need to find appropriate mechanisms in order to have an efficient and smart cooperation and division of
Elmar Brok MEP Elmar Brok MEP has been Chairman of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee since 2011. He is also a member of the Conference of Committee Chairs and of the Delegation for relations with the People’s Republic of China. He was born 1946, studied law and politics in Germany and then worked as a radio journalist and newspaper correspondent. He was elected Member of the European Parliament in 1980. He was the Parliament representative at the Intergovernmental Conferences on the Amsterdam Treaty (1996/1997), the Nice Treaty (2000), the Lisbon Treaty (2007) and the EU Constitution (2003/2004), as well as in the Council’s Reflection Group for Maastricht II (1994/1995).
tasks between the different European institutions and also between the EU institutions and their counterparts at Member State level. The European: That brings me directly to my next point: synergies. What needs to be done in order to achieve synergies in implementing the EEAS? How do you see this issue developing? Elmar Brok: There are a vast number of potential synergies that we must exploit to the fullest possible extent, especially at a time in which debt reduction is called for. There are synergies on all levels, for instance between the EEAS and the Commission’s country desks, the member states’ foreign services, Parliamentary country desks etc. This is a difficult process, as the exploitation of synergies is sometimes perceived to be bad for some employees, if they had to move their desks to the EEAS, for instance. However on the member state level we are already seeing a major step forward. Some smaller member states have decided to close down some of their foreign representations and the EU representation will start to provide consular services for these countries. Imagine the effect for the EU’s outward representation; this is fantastic! The European: Indeed, and what perspectives for other members! My third point: the monitoring of the gender balance within the EEAS staff itself and the posting of national diplomats to senior responsibilities in the capitals. Are nations ready to recruit “EU driven” diplomats and do nations accept the HR/VP exerting influence on these personalities? Or do nations try to make them work in favour of national interests? Elmar Brok: We have always had and will continue to have for a long time to come this difficult balance between national and EU interests. It is clear that this is not something that will
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