High Representative-Vice President Catherine Ashton called an extraordinary meeting of European commissioners, on 11 March, hoping to garner some support for her plans for her European External Action Service (EAS) plans. The discussions will notably touch on the management of the service’s budget, a sticking point between Ashton and the Commission.

In her draft blueprint, seen by Europolitics,Ashton acknowledges the Commission’s control of the budget, but nonetheless angles to be able to decide the overall, strategic allocation of funds. The college will want a clearer idea of what this would mean in practice and is likely to resist a reduction in any budgetary powers.

As the end of April deadline draws nearer for Ashton to draw up the decision, or legal document, that will bring the service into force, there is plenty of potential for tension. “The idea is to consult with a view to gaining the consensus needed to get the decision written,” a source explained. “It is extremely complex because the [Lisbon] Treaty makes it clear it is her decision but she needs the consent of the Commission,” he added.

Not only does Ashton have to get agreement from the Commission, she remains aware of the demands of member states, the European Council and Parliament, which she visited in Strasbourg, on 10 March. “The EAS is the point where all this pressure comes to bear [...] so people are inevitably pushing at the boundaries of things,” he elaborated.

Ashton hopes to get agreement across the board on the key issues of budget, recruitment and the services’ organigram in order to have the legal text on the table by the end of March, ready to be presented to the General Affairs Council in April.