EU: PULLED REPORT ON DIPLOMATIC CORPS SHOWED COUNCIL DIVISIONS.

The External Action Service was one of the few parts of the Constitution where preparatory work was supposed to start before it came into effect, which was originally expected in 2007. It is meant to serve the European Foreign Minister, another innovation envisaged by the Constitution, who would combine the roles of the current High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Vice-President of the Commission for External Relations, and would be made up of officials from the Commission, the Secretariat-General of the Council (SGC) and the member states themselves.

According to the report, which is based on the results of a series of meetings and discussions, there is a "broad consensus" among member states that the service should be a unique body in terms of its status, i.e. not a new institution as such but with close links to the SGC and the Commission. A large number of member states were in favour of the service using "support functions" of the SGC and the Commission and saw this as an important factor in minimising duplication and saving money.

Lack of consensus on range of responsibility.

All member states agreed that the purpose of the service was to "assist the ministers" in his various functions including that of vice-president of the Commission in terms of "shaping the agenda, making proposals, ensure overall coherence of external relations actions as well as carrying out CFSP and European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and representing the Union".

However this consensus breaks down when it comes to the question of the range of responsibilities of the service. An earlier paper drafted by the Commission and the SGC suggested that the EEAS should be made up of services currently dealing with CFSP and defence policy as well as all geographic desks dealing with all regions of the world and "thematic" desks dealing with issues such as human rights, counter-terrorism, non-proliferation and relations with the United Nations. A small number of member states, the report says, consider that the service should be restricted to covering CFSP/ESDP while a few would prefer it instead to have a broad remit including areas such as enlargement, neighbourhood (policy) and development policy. There is a consensus that trade policy should not be included, it states. The view of the majority of the member states "lies between these two positions", the report says, with most drawing the conclusion that the EEAS should consist of...