EUROPEAN COMMISSION: EXTERNAL SERVICE PREPARES TO SERVE EU FOREIGN MINISTER.

The Communication sets long-term training targets aiming to establish a common approach to training for staff with delegations, to promote career development within the External Affairs Service and provide staff with the necessary skills to assume the responsibilities and tasks inherent to the exercise of their office in delegations. Adequate training, implying an obligation to serve abroad with a change of post every four years, on average, will be provided at the various stages of careers within the External Service. A system based on compulsory training and appropriate professional experience for each post in delegation will also be introduced.

An initial training programme will be created to forge the "collective identity" of the External Service. Placements in delegations are proposed in the context of training new officials. An analysis of long-term exchange programmes abroad is also proposed. Greater emphasis will also be placed on the study of difficult languages (such as Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Arabic or Swahili). Training prior to posting will focus primarily on the precise knowledge and skills needed to accomplish new tasks. The avowed aim is to enhance the coherence and effectiveness of European external action through Commission delegations with a view to the creation of a new Service attached to the EU Foreign Minister and Commission Vice-President.

Without explicitly taking up the European Parliament's notion of creating a Community...

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