European External Action Service – 26 senior appointees so far

A brief glance at the 26 appointees (out of 31) for senior positions in the European External Action Service (EEAS) shows that the UK has secured a stronghold in terms of the proportion of British nationals in the newly created EU institution.

Six out of 26 (23%) positions have been filled by co-nationals of Catherine Ashton – the head of the EEAS. Among these, main counsellor to Ashton, Robert Cooper and Managing Director for Africa, Nicholas Westcott, are notable examples of prominent British figures in top positions. On the other hand, the 28 EU ambassadors appointed last September by Ashton, not one is British.

France, one of the European ‘big three’, has secured only three positions, one of which however is the position of the Executive Secretary-General, filled by Pierre Vimont.

Proportionate to its size and population, Germany is seen as a loser in this respect, securing less than 12 per cent of the 26 appointments. However, putting things into perspective, Poland is another large state which managed to send only one national to the EEAS headquarters.

Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands have been awarded two positions each, which can only be regarded as a successful national presence. Hungary, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Portugal have had no appointments among the high 26. Between these two extremes, new member states such as Romania, Poland and Slovakia have secured one headquarter position each.

With regards to the balance between appointees with a background as Commission officials and those which are national diplomats, the result so far is roughly in line with the agreement between the EU Institutions and the member states – agreement which set the creation of the EEAS. At the director level, 8 out of 11 are Commission officials while out of the six Managing Directors, four are national diplomats.

Another issue is the prevalent gender discrepancy. Although Ashton has vowed to take on more women, 23 out of the 26 senior positions have been filled by men.

Click here to download the EEAS provisional organisational chart.

Source: European Voice, "The battle for influence in the EU's diplomatic service" By Toby Vogel, 20.01.2011.