High Representative Catherine Ashton’s efforts to rubber stamp her plans for the European External Action Service (EEAS) by the end of April will undergo another test of fire, on 10 March, as she presents the plans publicly for the first time at the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg. The daunting task of creating the first major EU institution in decades will be made no easier by the difficult start to the relationship between Parliament - which begrudgingly approved the appointment of Ashton despite many MEPs complaining that she was under-qualified and unimpressive – and Ashton, who has repeatedly given promises to cooperate with the elected body but is reluctant to concede any concrete powers.

Ashton desperately needs Parliament’s go-ahead for her vision of the new diplomatic corps if her plans are to get the final stamp of approval by the end of April, as planned. Parliament, which has limited but crucial co-decision powers on the financing and staffing regulations elements of the EEAS package, could effectively scupper the whole plan if she does not manage to win them over. At the very least, if MEPs feel sidelined, they could cause an unacceptably embarrassing delay to the galloping set-up schedule.

PARLIAMENT’S PRIORITIES

Parliament is entering the EEAS game, where each institution and member state still has much to play for, hoping above all to win more influence on foreign policy. The jackpot for MEPs would be to be allowed to hold Senate-style hearings for the top jobs within the diplomatic service. As Ashton told Parliament in her ‘job interview’ hearing, she has no intention of giving MEPs power in this process, in which she has already agreed to involve member states.

A report to be presented by Gabriele Albertini (EPP), the Italian chair of Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), during Ashton’s appearance at the plenary will request this involvement in appointments. During his speech, he will also suggest more frequent consultations on foreign and security matters and greater access to documents and information held by the service. If the manoeuvring starts with Parliament aiming high on appointments, and Ashton refusing point blank, it is in this grey area of ‘closer cooperation’ in day-by-day affairs where the deal will be brokered.

HIGH REPRESENTATIVE’S PRIORITIES

The high representative’s number one priority at this stage is simply to keep the show on the road. An EU source said “momentum” is the key to getting her plans for the EEAS approved by the end of April. “You need to build a rolling consensus,” he said. The alternative, she believes, is getting bogged down in details and power struggles to the point at which the process either grinds to a halt or the service that actually comes into effect is so diluted from its original vision that it is ineffective. That failure is Ashton’s worse nightmare because setting up a functioning and influential service is her “big legacy” in Brussels. Ashton herself apparently believes that “it’s possible providing the steps are set out and there is consensus,” the source maintained. But building that consensus is easier said than done.

Although she did not mention Parliament specifically in great detail in her draft documents, referring more often simply to her desire for “interinstitutional cooperation,” she recognises that, in the construction of the service, “a very, very important component in building the EEAS is the Parliament”. According to her draft blueprint for the diplomatic service, seen by Europolitics, the details of this cooperation are to be decided in working arrangements between the high representative and the Council and Commission, as well as with the European Parliament”. MEPs can be expected to thoroughly question Ashton on the nature of the “details” and “working arrangements” she had in mind and will likely propose a few ideas of their own.

“A very, very important component in building the EEAS is the Parliament,” says an EU source