Barroso in bid to bolster EU foreign policy efficiency

By Andrew Beatty

Date: 02/03/06

Commission President José Manuel Barroso is to present plans this Spring to boost the profile and efficiency of the European Union’s foreign policy, as concerns grow over the impact of turf wars between the various EU institutions.

Approval of the EU constitution has been put on hold, making changes to the Union’s institutional architecture very difficult. Barroso is, however, expected to highlight the "urgent" need to improve the coherence of the Union’s external policies.

His report is expected to highlight the EU’s potential as a civilian power if its influence over different policy areas is brought together.

Barroso will encourage member states to address the disconnection between Commission competences such as trade, development and environmental policies and more traditional foreign policy tools controlled by the Council of Ministers.

The report is expected to be discussed by the college of commissioners in April and by national leaders at their European summit in June.

At this stage, with the paper still being drafted, it looks likely that Barroso will stop short of making detailed proposals. But he could prepare the ground for more significant reforms if the paper wins a positive response from member states. Experts have pointed to the creation of a common planning staff bridging the European Commission and Council of Ministers as one possible measure to increase coherence.

Since France and the Netherlands voted ‘No’ to the EU constitution in referenda last year, the institutional divide has again become pronounced between the Commission and the Council, with officials on both sides complaining about "institutional warriors".

In one symptomatic case in February last year the Commission took the Council to the European Court of Justice arguing that its policy to counter the spread of small arms in West Africa clashed with Commission powers over development aid.

The EU constitution had proposed to end this type of institutional wrangling by creating an ‘EU foreign minister’ straddling the Commission and Council structures.

The EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana had begun discussions on the composition of an EU external action service and whether it should include Commission delegations and parts of Commission departments.

There are now signs that resuscitating some of the provisions in the constitution could win political backing following the reflection period that followed the French and Dutch ‘No’ votes.

Solana and the chairman of the Europan Parliament’s foreign affairs committee Elmar Brok have supported splitting off some parts of the constitution.

Officials said that the French President Jacques Chirac was in favour of increasing the EU’s weight in foreign policy using existing treaty powers.

Barroso’s paper comes at a time when the EU is also trying to bring together civilian and military crisis response capabilities, which many now argue are more interlinked than ever.

Michel Barnier, the former European commissioner and foreign minister of France is completing a report on improving the Unions’ civilian crisis management capabilities.

• See also Europe Inside Out

Article anticipates the publication of a report by European Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, to be discussed by Commissioners in April 2006, looking into ways of enhancing the coherence of the European Union's external policies. Barroso was expected to encourage Member States to address the disconnection between Commission competences such as trade, development and environmental policies and more traditional foreign policy tools controlled by the Council of Ministers.