Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Ireland is taking an active interest in the EEAS review, which was also the subject of discussions at the informal meeting of EU foreign Ministers which I co-hosted with the EU High Representative, Baroness Ashton, in Dublin last weekend. We support a strong European External Action Service that fulfils the vision set out in the Lisbon treaty of an effective and coherent EU foreign policy. The EEAS has achieved much in its first two years of operation. The review of the EEAS, combined with the imminent publication of the joint EEAS-Commission communication on the comprehensive approach, provides a good opportunity to strengthen the coherence and impact of the Union’s external actions.

The Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP, as set out in the Lisbon treaty, is an integral part and operational arm of the Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. The EEAS plays a central role in planning for and launching civilian and military CSDP missions. While the issue of CSDP expertise within the EEAS was not specifically addressed by Ministers in our discussion last weekend, it would be the view of most, if not all, member states that the EEAS should possess the necessary expertise to effectively perform the functions assigned to it, including in the field of CSDP. EU member states agree on the need to analyse and streamline the EU’s current procedures for responding to crises. At the same time, member states will wish to remain closely involved in decision-making relating to the deployment of individual CSDP missions, particularly as it is they who will be supplying the personnel involved.

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