Although influential personalities voiced their opinion that the Union could proceed with its initiative for establishing the EEAS even in the absence of a new EU Treaty (EurActiv 25/06/08), Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner made it plain that any preparations have now been stopped.
"For the moment, we are very respectful of the 'no' vote in Ireland," she said, adding that the Union was waiting for the Irish to outline say how they plan to proceed on the issue, in time for the October EU Council.
"And then we should at least decide whether we could go on with our planning process," Ferrero-Waldner continued.
"I think that the EEAS as such can only enter into force once the Treaty is there. What we might eventually do is work on the identification of questions and finding solutions for them. But for the moment this has been stopped," the commissioner said.
Speaking at a conference organised by the European Policy Centre, she added that she still hoped it would be possible, at some point in the future, for all the 27 member countries to ratify the Lisbon Treaty.
"But world events will not stop and wait for the European institutions," she added.
Praise for the Union of the Mediterranean
In a bid to counter the perception that the Commission was overwhelmed by the flurry of national initiatives to strengthen co-operation with the EU's Southern and Northern neighbours (EurActiv 23/05/08), Ferrero-Waldner highly praised the forthcoming Paris Summit of the Mediterranean (13 July) as a "new policy impulse of dynamism". She listed its merits, starting with the fact that this is a meeting of heads of state and government.
Secondly, she stressed the novelty of the co-presidency that will be established, saying it was no longer a case of the North giving to the South, but the North and South hand in hand. The other important elements of the initiative, she said, were that it is project-oriented and builds on involving the private sector.
Ferrero-Waldner said she hoped the Paris summit would give a new dynamism to the Commission-sponsored Barcelona Process and expressed her satisfaction with her work with the French EU Presidency.
