Now backed by the European Council, Commission and Parliament, the European External Action Service (EAS) is ready to get to work, giving the Union a greater global impact, Poul Cristoffersen, High Representative Catherine Ashton’s special advisor on the new diplomatic service, toldEuropolitics.

What was the point when you knew you had cracked the negotiations with Parliament?

Even in the first quadrilateral [meeting between the EAS, Parliament, the Commission and Council Presidency], we felt that it was moving towards an agreement. I have had contacts with Parliament from the beginning of this process so I have been somewhat more optimistic that we would get to a result than others. I think objectively it is a decision which is better than our original proposal.

How confident are you that the EAS will start to function by the target date of 1 December 2010?

Until now, we have suceeded with the timescale. It is true that there is not much we can do just on the basis of the Council decision setting out the EAS because it is to some extent an empty shell until we get the change in the staff regulation, the change in the financial regulation and a supplementary budget for 2010. But we will work it out. We hope to get the supplementary budget around the first of October and then we recruit the senior staff. Our intention is to start with the top jobs: the secretary-general, his deputies and a number of the directors-general.

What are the main challenges for the new EU delegations on the ground?

Most of what we are doing now is taking over the Commission’s delegations. But it is worth noting that the Commission’s delegations today are to a very large extent concentrating on development aid and trade. There have been very specific areas and you have had until now very few people dealing with what you could call general diplomatic work, in the old sense of the word. So now there’s an enormous task in making these delegations capable of doing the new job. One of the tasks that they have to take over is the EU’s representation in third countries, a role which until now was conducted by member states through the Council Presidency. So we need a heavy increase in our staffing in these places.

Is it going to be easier now to convince member states to act as a Union on foreign affairs, rather than bilaterally?

It is essential that we create a service in which member states are confident. When we are talking about foreign and security policy, we are talking about a policy area that is basically still intergovernmental. You have to earn the confidence of member states every day on very sensitive issues.

What is the EU delegation’s role going to be in places where there are other big players on the ground, like a member state with a special relationship, another powerful country or an international organisation? For example in Pakistan, where the UK, US and UN have such established roles and write such big cheques?

We will have to find our role, but it is really about a comparative advantage. First of all, Europe can often have comparative advantage to the Americans in the sense that we can operate in areas where the Americans cannot operate, like Iran. To take the example of Pakistan, what we do with regard to textile exports from Pakistan is much more important than the amount that the UK or the Americans may be able to offer in bilateral aid. We also have instruments that basically nobody else has, like our civil and military crisis capability. And, finally, there are areas where we cannot simply rely on others: the Balkans and our neighbourhood in general.

So would you say the EU’s delegations are moving away from trade and aid towards being a more mainstream diplomatic mission?

I don’t like the world ‘diplomatic’ because it gives you the impression that what we need is a kind of classic diplomatic work. But the main task of our delegations should be to promote our policies. This is not simply about expanding their work either. I very much see our delegations as outposts, which will spread the message about the things that we want to achieve and explain our policies. It’s not about changing our policies - it’s about making them better understood.

What will it take to get the EAS up and running at full capacity, what are the final steps?

We are talking about three years to get staff in place. In some areas, there are new functions that have to be developed. So, for example, converting the Africa desks from purely development cooperation to those dealing with the global relationship with that particular country is a task that is important.

Is this the substance behind the buzzwords ‘coherence and coordination’?

Yes, and we also need to develop a unit where we take seriously this task of being responsible for coordination of external EU policy across the board. We we need another unit, which can do some more conceptual and strategic thinking on external policy. Again, that would need to be created because it doesn’t exist.