Reporter: EU diplomacy in the EEAS era

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• published: 28 Jun 2012
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What is the EU's diplomatic influence in the world? Has the creation of a new European diplomatic service changed the situation? EuroparlTV has spoken to several ambassadors from other countries. We're at the heart of the EU institutions in Brussels. This building houses the EU's new diplomatic service, the External Action Service. Moving crates and half-empty corridors are the signs of a thorough reorganisation started 18 months ago with new communication technologies as work tools. You can't set up a European diplomatic service overnight. If you look at what happened in our main partners in the different Member States, a foreign affairs ministry is usually the result of several years, or sometimes several centuries, of existence and development. With 136 ambassadors, nearly 3,600 civil servants, and an annual budget of 470 million euros, the European diplomatic service manages foreign policy for the Union. Its head, Catherine Ashton, shakes hands with the greatest in the world, here in India, or in Israel. But what influence do these handshakes really have? We've succeeded in crises such as the one in Syria or in a country like Iran in imposing oil or financial sanctions which have impressed our partners outside the Union. The Russian ambassador in Brussels isn't impressed yet. He doesn't think Europe speaks with a single voice. Every time the EU makes an attempt to speak with one voice, it creates additional positions. Some of the positions in the EEAS have yet to be filled. When it is fully operational... I believe it requires some additional effort to become that. Then we hope it will be an effective instrument of the European Union's foreign policy. But since the reorganisation of European diplomacy, those in charge in some third countries say they're relieved. An important partner like Israel now knows who to talk to. It has certainly become easier for us to deal with the EU institutions in that we no longer have to deal with three different entities dealing with foreign policy, the so-called European Troika. Now we have one address and that has streamlined the way we handle ourselves vis-à-vis the EU. Last February, a summit was held in New Delhi between India and the EU. Catherine Ashton was present for another handshake that was quite useful. We consider Europe as a strategic partner of India. Naturally all issues would be on the table, including areas like counterterrorism. It's not a national issue, it's international. It's a global issue requiring global solutions. All major players around the world must contribute to it and cooperate in that regard. But the fact is the EU doesn't have the influence of the USA in global diplomacy. The EU's institutional complexity and the influence of Member States in diplomacy confuse the situation. The number you have to dial to reach Europe depends on the subject area. If it's internal policy, you'd go to the Commission for the technical perspective. If it's more external policy, you would go to Mrs Ashton and her department, with the difficulty that certain strong Member States haven't wanted to reduce their diplomatic impact. Add to that another player, the European Parliament. MEP Othmar Karas is a Vice-President. He collaborates with international institutions like the G20, the United Nations and the World Bank. He watches the EU's foreign policy closely. We are politically fragmented, and on the other hand there's a lack of political will among the Heads of State and Government and the Member States to develop the European Union into a United States of Europe. A global evaluation of the European diplomatic service will take place in 2013. In the meantime, Catherine Ashton will get to shake many more hands. EuroparlTV video ID: 9038a12c-c5c6-4ca8-996c-a06a00dcbb3e