EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas rejects overhaul of diplomatic service, calls for better enforcement of current rules

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Wednesday poured cold water on plans to overhaul the bloc’s diplomatic branch, arguing that better enforcement of the current rules would make its foreign policy more effective.

France and Germany have floated plans for root-and-branch reforms of Kallas’s European External Action Service, or EEAS, according to a discussion paper seen by POLITICO. The plans include giving her oversight of policy units in the European Commission that deal with external relations.

But after a debate on the proposed reforms among EU foreign ministers in Wicklow, Ireland, Kallas said that a “majority” of envoys had supported “the current institutional setup” of the EEAS. She added that there was “broad support” from member countries to make it work without big institutional changes.

“The problem is not the treaties, the institutional setup,” Kallas told a news conference. “The problem is the implementation.”

Debate over the future of EU foreign policy — and the fate of the EEAS — is intensifying amid budget constraints and criticism that it is no longer fit for purpose in an era of increasingly brutal relations between global powers.

Meanwhile, the European Commission’s growing interest in foreign policy, including the creation of a unit dedicated to the Middle East and Africa, has sparked a turf war with Kallas’s EEAS.

The Franco-German paper, among other ideas, proposed addressing this issue by giving Kallas oversight of external-facing policy units within the Commission, including migration, trade and development aid.

Kallas pushed back, arguing that EU treaties and legal texts already gave her this responsibility in theory — but were not properly enforced.

Kallas’s role sits astride the Commission, where she is a vice president under President Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Council where she is tasked with coordinating the foreign policy positions of 27 EU states.

“There was not support for concentrating everything in the Commission without having this role practically implemented,” said Kallas, referring to her position as high representative and vice president. “If I have somebody above me who is actually deciding, then it doesn’t work that way.”

Ahead of the meeting in Wicklow, three EU diplomats, who were granted anonymity to discuss the reforms, said that Kallas was unlikely to support plans that could be seen as giving von der Leyen more direct authority over her actions.

This article has been updated.

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