Briefings
The new European diplomacy
La grosse machine de Lady Ashton
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Diplomacy
Saving Private Ashton
1 April 20117El País Madrid -
Institutions
What action, Lady Ashton?
28 January 20112Le Monde Paris -
European diplomacy
The Lady vanishes
7 October 2010Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
Diplomacy
Will the EU cuddle up to NATO?
13 September 2010PresseuropThe Irish Times -
External Affairs
Jobs for the old boys
23 August 20101Dziennik Gazeta Prawna Warsaw -
Diplomacy
An outsized diplomatic machine
23 July 20101La Stampa Turin -
EU-Russia
Van Rompuy still finding his feet
2 June 2010PresseuropLe Figaro -
Diplomacy
Lady Ashton's large diplomatic body
27 April 2010PresseuropEl Periódico de Catalunya -
Diplomacy
EEAS, the toothless colossus
29 March 20101El País Madrid -
European Union
The plot against Lady Ashton
26 February 20102Presseurop -
Diplomacy
Ashton plans single EU spy hub
22 February 2010PresseuropEUobserver.com -
Editorial
Invisible diplomacy
19 February 2010Presseurop -
Institutions
The post-Lisbon paradox
1 December 2009Dziennik Gazeta Prawna Warsaw -
High Representative
The bureaucratic monster at her feet
20 November 20091Der Spiegel Hamburg -
European Council
Herman who? Catherine what?
20 November 2009Presseurop
While the Libyan crisis unfolds before gates of Europe, the High Representative for EU foreign policy is totally absent from the scene. "One wonders if the post still makes sense," writes analyst Jose Ignacio Torreblanca.
Catherine Ashton was cast as Europe’s international voice, the head diplomat of an EU full of world-wide ambitions. Unfortunately, she is not making her voice heard, is nearly invisible and has already lost the confidence of most of the member states. 
An efficient diplomatic service is not enough: EU's member states are still lacking a coherent common foreign policy, writes Gazeta Wyborcza. 
Only two of the EU’s 115 ambassadors come from central Europe, all the rest come from Old Europe. As the "Foreign Affairs ministry" gets up and running, Poland warns that it will not tolerate the stitch-up. 
After long months of negotiations between the European Commission, Parliament and member states, the European External Action Service is set to be operational by fall. It remains to be seen whether the efficiency of its operations will justify its cost and complexity. 
Will Catherine Ashton’s new plan for a “European External Action Service” suffice to propel the EU to the world power status to which it lays claim? Nothing is less certain, in view of the sheer size of the envisaged diplomatic colossus, the states’ reluctance to yield any of their prerogatives to it and the institutional wrangling over its powers. 
After Jose Manuel Baroso and Herman Van Rompuy, Catherine Ashton is now the European figure that everyone loves to hate. Only a few months into her much criticised mandate as the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, can she hang on? The press laments a rudderless Europe. 
Now that the Lisbon Treaty has come into force, the EU must rise to the occasion if it is to be a global player. But the choice of its new helmsmen runs counter to that objective, regrets Polish political scientist Aleksander Smolar. 
With her appointment as the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Catherine Ashton has become overnight one of the world’s most powerful women. But her role, considered even more prestigious than that of EU President, is not without pitfalls, reports Der Spiegel. 
The appointment of Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy to the post of President of the European council and British Commissioner for Trade Catherine Ashton as High Representative for Foreign Affairs has not been well received by the European press, which was hoping for more charismatic European representatives. L'UE dans le monde, forces et faiblesses
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Middle East
Europe has a role to play
28 July 20111Al Hayat London -
Middle East
Europe doesn't have the firepower
15 June 20115Libération Paris -
Diplomacy
Europe's zero doctrine
25 February 20116El País Madrid -
Europe – Egypt
Everybody's favourite dictator
4 February 2011PresseuropDie Tageszeitung -
Middle East
Hands off Egypt!
2 February 20116The Guardian London -
EU-Egypt
An opportunity not to be missed
31 January 20111Presseurop -
Diplomacy
Frattini’s Egyptian mission plan
28 January 2011PresseuropThe Independent -
United Nations
Europe's fading voice on human rights
14 October 2010The New York Times New York -
Diplomacy
UN General Assembly snubs EU
15 September 2010PresseuropLe Soir -
Diplomacy
EU vies for special status at UN
24 August 2010PresseuropRzeczpospolita -
Pakistan
Why is Europe so slow to react?
13 August 20101PresseuropPresseurop -
Middle East
Europe should rethink its aid to Palestine
22 March 20104Financial Times London -
Diplomacy
Lady Ashton finally finds Haiti on map
2 March 2010PresseuropEl País -
18 January 2010El País Madrid
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15 January 2010PresseuropDe Standaard
After years of playing a secondary role in the Arab world, the EU now has an opportunity to exert a positive influence in a region where the United States and Russia have failed to respond to radical change. An Al-Hayat columnist outlines how Europe can make a difference. 
Now that they are involved in Libya, Europeans have discovered that they do not have the means to achieve their ambitions. And without the backing of military means, EU diplomacy will not be credible in a strategic region for Europe. This is the logic behind the need for common defence programmes. 
During major crises, every major power has a clearly defined diplomatic doctrine which it applies according to its interests. As revolution spreads across the Arab world, it’s the EU found its own, argues columnist José Ignacio Torreblanca. 
The events in Egypt are exhilarating to any lover of civil liberty, concedes Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins. But given its record of bloody and futile interventions around the world, the West should think twice about meddling as Muslim states strive for self-determination. 
After the cacophony and the hesitation that followed the “Jasmine Revolution” in Tunisia, the EU once more seems paralysed in the face of an uprising against the Egyptian regime of Hosni Mubarak. All the same, notes the European press, it’s another chance to support democracy in its Mediterranean “backyard”. 
Could Germany and Portugal's election to the U.N. Security Council revive Europe's declining influence in the world? Don't bet on it, argues the New York Times. 
Following Catherine Ashton’s trip to Israel and Palestine, EU foreign ministers are gathered in Brussels on 22 March seeking to define union policy in the Middle East. According to the Financial Times, it should start by rethinking the question of aid to the Palestinian territories. 
However painstakingly planned out in advance, every EU presidency ends up facing an unforeseen crisis that forces it to reshuffle its priorities and puts its crisis response capabilities to the test. Haiti is turning into the first test of the new EU foreign policy institutions’ ability to take coordinated action.
Infographic illustrating the challenges for the European External Action Service
