Ashton's revised proposal is due to be discussed by EU foreign ministers on 26 April and will have to be approved by the European Parliament before it can come into effect.
The new version has been stripped of earlier plans for a detailed organisational chart, which had caused controversy because the top position in the new administration appeared to have been tailor-made for a French-style 'énarque' (EurActiv 30/03/10).
The will be no 'organigramme' in the EEAS, the ambassador of a large EU country told journalists yesterday. The reason for this, he explained, was that Ashton did not want to be bound by a strict administrative structure and the service should be allowed to evolve over time.
From the outset, it appeared that Ashon's tactics were to present a sketchy proposal in order to maximise her chances of getting it through the EU's Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, which both have a say on the new service (EurActiv 22/03/10).
Although it cannot co-legislate on the structure of the future diplomatic service, the Parliament can veto the financial aspects of the plan.
'Primus inter pares'
"The reflection of Ashton has evolved," the diplomat said, comparing the earlier proposal dated 25 March with the one she presented to EU ambassadors on Wednesday (see 'Background').
Retracting earlier plans to install a powerful secretary-general on top of the EU's new diplomatic service, Ashton is this time proposing a "collegial leadership" of three high officials, one of whom would preside over the EEAS in her absence.
This official, seen as primus inter pares – first among equals – would be referred to as an "executive secretary- general," the ambassador said.
Ironically, the diplomat said Ashton would have a wider choice of deputies at a higher political level. One option would be for her to be assisted by the three commissioners in charge of external relations – namely Štefan Füle, the Czech commissioner for enlargement, Andris Piebalgs, his Latvian colleague responsible for development, and Kristalina Georgieva, the Bulgarian commissioner for humanitarian aid (EurActiv 15/03/10).
The second option is that she would be assisted by the 27 EU member states' foreign ministers, whose meetings Ashton will organise. The third possibility is that she will on occasion be represented by special EU envoys appointed for concrete missions, as is the way in the United States.
Commissioners wary of becoming deputies
However, the diplomat conceded that Ashton's would be deputy commissioners, while willing to help, had expressed concern about being governed by "the EEAS bureaucracy".
The ambassador said the Commission and the Council had just sent lists of which of their administrative services would become part of the EEAS. He made clear that these were not lists of names.
Asked by EurActiv if member states had already been invited to send lists of the people they wanted to have in EEAS, he replied in the negative. The future diplomatic service, he said, will be composed of officials from the Council, the Commission and the diplomatic services of the member states (EurActiv 13/04/10).
The diplomat said that EU countries expected Ashton to be able to fill the "collegial leadership" and other key positions by the summer, producing a package acceptable to member states. The EEAS would then become operational in the autumn, he added.
Asked to comment on the Parliament's view that Ashton's proposal gave too much room to member states, the diplomat said that contact with Parliament would continue after the Monday meeting of foreign ministers.
As for the state of mind of member states on the EEAS, the ambassador said there was a "surprisingly large consensus," but behind this "a lot of after-thoughts" related to the individual national candidacies for key positions.
