Every six months chairs of foreign affairs committees from each national parliamentary chamber in the EU get together to discuss foreign affairs at a European level. It’s a small part of making the EU more accountable.
The group is known as COFAC (Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees) and as chair of the Lords’ EU foreign affairs select committee I get to attend them. They are every six months because, despite the new Lisbon Treaty, there is still a national rotating presidency, and for the first half of 2010 it’s been the turn of Spain.
So earlier this month it was off to Madrid to meet with my counterparts across the EU. We also have aspirant member states among us – so we welcomed Turkey, Croatia and Iceland to our exclusive band.
But the most anticipated part of the day was the first appearance, en route from Kiev on her way back to Brussels, of the newly appointed High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Cathy Ashton – known better to us in the Lords as Baroness Ashton of Upholland. She was leader of the Lords until she was catapulted into the European Commission when Peter Mandelson was brought back to save the present Government.
Apart from sorting out the Middle East, squaring up to China, and building a relationship with the US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Baroness Ashton has the task of setting up the new European External Action Service – the EU’s new foreign diplomatic corps.
Cathy Ashton facing interrogation from national parliamentarians
The Lisbon Treaty was very much about creating a single European voice in the world – getting the EU to at last punch its weight on the global stage. But there’s already a major turf war between the Baroness, member states, and the Commission. So the likelihood of the EEAS being set up on time next month is not good.
Never mind that. In Madrid, High Representative Ashton acquitted herself well. She fielded some 30 questions from parliamentarians of many member states, and her answers received a good approval rating. As we know from her track record in the House of Lords – given time Cathy Ashton can be very persuasive.
Does my Noble Lord feel that as we are so much a part of the EU now and large parts of our legislation is European that the increase in Ministers and salaries is disturbing ?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8569279.stm
http://www.eu2010.es/en/agenda/…/feb25_comisionesexteriores.html
I’m sorry the link above does not work.
however these two to the EEAS (European External Action Service) do.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_External_Action_Service
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/…/default_en.htm
Thanks to Lord Teverson for providing that little bit of hard news. I understand that the COFACC is not a new organization.
“that the increase in Ministers and salaries is disturbing ?”
But how many British embassies are considered to become redundant in view of the impending opening of the EU Embassies worldwide, and the fact that many of them in the first instance will be manned by a far more UK staff than German for example, other senior partners of the EU.
Also what measures will be taken to ensure that British subjects with their EU passports at hand, are aware of the existence of those EU embassies, not forgetting that the American states of Texas and California still have embassies/consulates in London!?
Despite the UK’s tendency to be rather cool towards European integration, it would help to present a more united European front when negotiating with the big powers. It’s a bit of a shame that the infighting involved over Baroness Ashton’s new External Action Service look likely to scupper this. It might have been a way for the EU to show a more tangible benefit to the UK, rather than the standard indecipherable myriad of trade agreements that the EU usually provides.
http://www.governing-principles.com
Never mind that, will she have her own plane and to hell with the carbon footprint if she is to get “…the EU to at last punch its weight on the global stage.”?
I wonder if anyone read the Charlemagne piece on the EAS? It’s here if anyone wants to read it: http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2010/03/making_european_diplomacy_work
Essentially it questions the effectiveness of any diplomatic service which is composed of members of so many countries whose diplomats distrust each other so much.
I’d be interested to see what opinions it will gather here. Personally I am not optimistic for it, but it depends on how well the new diplomats are socialised into the system.
Interesting link Len! Ta!
George Galloway took me to task on one occasion outside the FAC Selcom for attending (I don’t remember his exact words) a meeting of the warmongering committee of the UK. He was right. I was wrong.
“Most EU countries do not really have foreign policies”
It was in the days of the cold war that the main consolation of a divided Europe, was that espionage was not done, in the way it was, in the late 19thC, when every single country in Europe had spies in every other country in Europe.
Now that we have an EU (European Union) one presumes that all that kind of activity is done formally, and as an above board political activity such as the COFAC!
“High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Cathy Ashton.”
I’ve known the Ashton/Kellner family personally for many years and,reflecting on her calling, I am quite certain that her skills for the job are exemplary, her dedication crystal clear.
Since the job is not one of personality but, as always of content, what is the war machine of the EU going to do to express its policy clearly?
I notice that Croatia was an observer, Noble Lord Teverson. I wonder what response Baroness Ashton, or her new diplomatic staff, would say to the idea put forward ,I believe, by the totally marginalized Serbians that:
Since the last 19thC wars in Afghanistan saw many senior British soldiers cut their teeth
on warfare, in preparation for the first world war, what is EU foreign policy on dealing fairly with all the different ethnic minorities in the former Yugoslavia, at least one of which believes that the war in Afgh ,will indeed be imported afresh to the Balkans, as in 1914?
Has she appointed a specialist in her department to field such questions permanently?
I would also remark that presumably Noble lord
Teverson represented the interests of the Baroness Taylor, who deals with the military and war machine matters of the UK govt, at the foreign office.
May we assume that significant “progress” towards economies in the war machine industry, between different Countries of the EU, were made at that meeting?
Do those economies entail an increasing development of the war industry in Europe,
and against which World powers is this European war industry aimed?
Or is it aimed at defending the EU from itself?
Does the noble lord ,or anybody else, have a link to the recorded proceedings of that meeting of COFAC?
They are important meetings by any standards,
and I would appreciate being able to read them.
Is that the first one?
Tom search “COFACC Madrid” in google not Cofac, though I`ve yet to find a full recordording of proceedings.
COFACC
Conference of Foreign Affairs Committee Chairmen
“On 25-26 February the Chairman, Lord Teverson, attended the meeting of the Conference of Foreign Affairs Committee Chairmen (COFACC) in Madrid.”
COFACC
More success in searches with double C at the end COFACC.
I did find one link to a more detailed record.
If you follow the two links above Carl, including Wikipedia, it is a very absorbing and fascinating subject, including “intelligence analysis”.
Thanks Twm O`r nant I`ll look more into that.
Speaking of intelligence services, the Government`s new adverts for “shop a terrorist” on radio and tv are a trifle inane, but we`ve got money to spend on more advertising haven`t we….
They forgot to buy the domain name, so my nephew did and came up with this…..
http://antiterroristhotline.co.uk/
So if you`re a terrorist please keep your curtains shut so we all know ! 😉