There are clear cases of corruption in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and if Parliament does not speak up, a similar system that breeds corruption could be reproduced in the EEAS, German MEP Franziska Brantner (Greens/EFA group) told journalists.
"There are EU special representatives that have monthly travel budgets of roughly 100,000 euros. And when you ask them 'where do you fly to?', you don't get any answers," she said.
Brantner, who is her group's shadow rapporteur on the EEAS, said journalists were "investigating operations both in Afghanistan and Kosovo".
Under the current system, "you only need the head of the mission to sign," the German MEP said. "It's incredible. There is no budget line for our mission in Somalia. We don't know how much has been spent in Somalia on staff, on building, etc. It's very opaque," she lamented.
Brantner said that the Lisbon Treaty stipulated one major requirement for the EEAS: that it should be coherent.
"Coherence must be the yardstick against which we judge the proposals on the table. So far that has not happened," she said, referring to an organigram circulated by Catherine Ashton's services detailing a very loose chain of command for EU peace-keeping activities.
Until now, the Council has used the so-called 'Solana hub' for crisis management and peace building, which according to the new blueprint does not exist any more.
In particular, Brantner pointed to the CMPD, the recently established Crisis Management and Planning Directorate and the CPCC, the Civilian Implementation Unit responsible for actually carrying out EU missions, which according to the organigram have no common hierarchy except for the secretary-general of the EEAS.
In her eyes, the EEAS secretary-general appears to be an official with more power than Ashton herself.
CMPD and CPCC will still receive money from the Commission under what Brantner described as a "system where nobody is responsible".
"The idea of those who are currently running this show is to take the money and have it themselves," she said.
Instead, she called for the establishment of a peace-building department, which would integrate both the Commission and Council's operations - the stability instrument and the CFSP budget respectively - as well as EU missions.
"And if you don't do it, we from the Parliament will say you don't get the money either," Brantner warned.
The German MEP pointed the finger at France for the proposed loose structure of peace-keeping.
"The French have put a veto on any integration of these institutions. They're really blocking it. They are against having a secretary-general responsible for it. For them it should go to Ashton. And this is more a French defence ministry position than the foreign ministry's," she added.
