Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The European Council did not consider the matter of the European External Action Service, EEAS. Substantial work has been carried out in recent weeks on the EEAS. In my view, it is potentially one of the most important innovations of the Lisbon treaty and supports the work of the new High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Baroness Catherine Ashton. We had discussions at the informal meeting at Córdoba and at the foreign affairs meeting last Monday week. On 25 March, the High Representative presented her proposals for a Council decision on the organisation and functioning of the EEAS, together with related proposals on budgetary and staff matters. Those proposals followed intensive consultations with the stakeholders, including the member states. The Council will make its decision after consulting the European Parliament and obtaining the consent of the European Commission. The Parliament will have the power of co-decision in regard to the associated budgetary and staffing legislation.

The proposals are complex and will require careful scrutiny and debate in the coming weeks. I look forward to discussing them with my colleagues at the Council meeting on 26 April. This will be a very important decision for the Council with very long-term consequences. I have made the point many times to other Foreign Ministers and colleagues that we are all birds of passage. Whatever one's personal views, we have to create an edifice that endures and will represent a constructive added value to the European institutional framework. That is our positive approach.

The decision will deal with links between the EEAS and other EU institutions, particularly the Commission, of which the high representative is also vice president, and the European Parliament, which will be consulted regularly by the high representative on the main aspects and basic choices of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The guidelines for the EEAS, endorsed by the European Council, remain a valid basis for considering the high representative's proposals. These proposals include provision for the staff recruitment process and consequential amendments to the European Union staff regulations. The proposals provide it will comprise officials from relevant departments of the Commission and the Council secretariat, as well as staff seconded from national diplomatic services of member states. Irish candidates will be permitted to compete for positions within the EEAS on an equal footing with those from other member states. We have sought a general expression of interest in working for the EEAS from Irish diplomats. We have been pressing for an open and transparent approach. I can take other questions if the Deputy wishes.

See this speech in context