Tag: Catherine Ashton

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is due to meet Iran's chief nuclear negotiator today (18 September), Ashton's office said. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a political solution was still possible in the standoff over Tehran's atomic programme.

The United States and at least seven other Western countries expelled Syrian diplomats from their capitals yesterday (29 May) in a coordinated action against President Bashar al-Assad's government over the killing of more than 100 civilians in a Syrian town. An EU-wide expulsion, however, has not been decided.

With the right manoeuvres, the EU and the US could create a new base of negotiations with the Iranian government where the implementation of its nuclear programme would not be out of question but would create mutual benefits, argues Francisco Galamas and Jelena Petrovic.

As the Syrian bloodshed continues, the European Union finds itself once again trapped behind mild rhetoric and condemnation, writes Vivien Pertusot from the French institute of international relations (Ifri).

Hillary Clinton's recent visit to West Africa highlights that despite the EU's higher spending on development aid, it is unable to sell itself as a champion of human rights or make its voice heard internationally, say Christina Barrios and Paul Nolan of the Madrid-based FRIDE think tank.

The European Union and NATO refused to recognise the elections in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, held on Friday, which saw Alexander Ankvab, who is loyal to Moscow, earn a resounding victory.

The European Commission carefully welcomed news yesterday (16 May) that the International Criminal Court had sought arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif Al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi.

A growing number of international institutions and agreements are attempting to tackle the world's major challenges: economic, environmental or security. What is the EU's role in this emerging world order?

Inspired by revolts that have toppled Arab rulers in Tunisia and Egypt, protesters in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen have taken to the streets to demand the resignations of their own heads of state. The European Parliament yesterday (16 February) debated the unfolding events.

The unfolding Egypt crisis has eclipsed the agenda of today's (4 February) EU summit, which was expected to focus on energy and innovation. But it has also revealed the limitations of the European Union's High Representative for foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, who has had to take a back seat as the 'Jasmine' revolutionary wave rolls on.

France's Pierre Vimont and Ireland's David O'Sullivan were appointed yesterday (25 October) to take on the "logistics" of building Europe's first foreign action service by 1 December. Remaining work to be done after that date will only be of minor importance, experts told EurActiv.

EU hopeful Serbia yesterday (9 September) supported in the UN a compromise resolution on Kosovo fine-tuned by European Union diplomats, dropping its earlier demands to reopen talks on the status of its former province. BETA, EurActiv's partner in Serbia, contributed to this article.

Bulgaria is ready to host direct talks between Israel and Palestine, diplomatic sources told EurActiv. The development follows a visit to the EU newcomer by the president of the Jewish state and comes after the Palestinian president had signalled his desire for such a breakthrough.

Israel should ease its Gaza blockade further and allow Palestinians to resume exports from the territory, the European Union's foreign policy chief said on Sunday (18 July) during a visit to the Hamas-controlled enclave.

The European Parliament is giving EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton a hard time, as political group leaders yesterday (10 June) delivered a clear message that they disliked her proposals for the European Union's new diplomatic service. They insisted that it must be attached to the European Commission, otherwise the Parliament will veto its financing.

A third of the diplomats who will staff the future European External Action Service (EEAS) will come from the EU's member states by 2013, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

The European Union must quickly push ahead with forming its own diplomatic service or it risks falling behind the likes of China and India in the world order, top diplomats warned yesterday (26 April) after EU ministers reached "political agreement" on European External Action Service (EEAS), which still awaits MEPs' green light.

With the clock ticking ahead of a 30 April deadline to reach agreement on the European External Action Service (EEAS), the leaders of the European Parliament's three largest political groups warned against putting the future diplomatic corps under the thumb of EU member states.

Sudan's difficult political path in the next year will represent a big test for external actors in the country, including the European Union, writes Oladiran Bello from Madrid-based think-tank FRIDE.

After Viktor Yanukovich, labelled by the Western press as pro-Russian, won the presidential elections in Ukraine, the EU "played its cards right" and avoided cooling down strategic relations, diplomats told EurActiv.

Introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, the European External Action Service (EEAS) is intended to give the European Union a greater role in foreign policy. It is now operational, though its scope and competences have been the subject of fierce debate among EU countries.

A meeting of European Union leaders on Thursday (11 February) will attempt to breathe new life into the bloc's reformed institutions, which have recently suffered a series of setbacks, including the cancellation of a planned EU-US summit and criticism that the Union's new foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, was not visible enough after the Haiti earthquake.

The respect that leaders harbour for the European Union's new foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton will be key to her success in the role, Jacques Lafitte, partner and founder of Brussels-based consultants Avisa Partners, told EurActiv in an interview, predicting that if she is rebuked by her contemporaries on high-profile issues then she will be too afraid of making mistakes to act decisively. 

As Belgium's Herman Van Rompuy and Britain's Catherine Ashton assume their new roles of Council president and EU foreign affairs chief following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December, debate is raging among Brussels commentators over whose role will prove the more prominent. EurActiv asked a number of experts to outline their views.