Ashton keen to axe Congo conflict envoy

Features discusses proposals from the European External Action Service (EEAS) to reform and rationalise the EU Special Representatives (EUSR) to align them more closely with EEAS operations.

The European Union (EU) currently had eight Special Representatives (EUSRs) in different countries and regions of the world. The EUSRs promote the EU's policies and interests in troubled regions and countries and play an active role in efforts to consolidate peace, stability and the rule of law.

The EUSRs support the work of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR), in the regions concerned. They play an important role in the development of a stronger and more effective EU Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and in the Union's efforts to become a more effective, more coherent and more capable actor on the world stage. They provide the EU with an active political presence in key countries and regions, acting as a 'voice' and 'face' for the EU and its policies.

The eight EUSRs cover the following countries or regions: Afghanistan, the African Great Lakes Region, the African Union, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central Asia, Crisis in Georgia, Kosovo and Sudan.

• Primary Source

Blog: Stefan Wolff: Can the EU do without its Special Representatives?, June 2011 http://www.stefanwolff.com/notebook/can-the-eu-do-without-its-special-representatives

Council of the European Union: EU Special Representatives http://www.consilium.europa.eu/showpage.aspx?id=263&lang=EN

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