Welcome
Federal Foreign Minister Westerwelle: European External Action Service ready to go
Federal Foreign Minister Westerwelle issued the following statement today after the vote in the European Parliament on the European External Action Service:
“With the European Parliament vote, the last remaining hurdles have been taken on the road to launching the European External Action Service. This is fantastic news for European diplomacy. We want High Representative Catherine Ashton to be able to take on her full tasks as soon as possible to make the European Union’s foreign policy more efficient and coherent. That can’t happen without a strong EEAS.Germany will play its part to ensure the EEAS is up and running as quickly as possible. We will make top-notch staff available to the High Representative especially for leading positions in the EEAS.” We want High Representative Catherine Ashton to be able to take on her full tasks as soon as possible to make the European Union’s foreign policy more efficient and coherent. That can’t happen without a strong EEAS.
The General Affairs Council drew up the EEAS decision on 26 July 2010. The European Parliament today passed the remaining legal acts needed to set up the EEAS – the amendment of the Financial Regulation and the Staff Regulations as well as the EEAS supplementary budget. These are to be endorsed by the General Affairs Council on 25 October 2010. Following publication in the Official Journal of the European Union in November, the EEAS is to start work on 1 December 2010.
