Foreign Commissioner Kallas had announced the new advisory group during an informal meeting of European ministers in Ireland. The plan was to gather prominent political and military experts to develop new ideas aimed at addressing shortcomings in European defense more quickly and effectively.
Not at this time
The group would not only include experts from EU countries. Participants or representatives from the United Kingdom and Ukraine were also planned. The advisory group itself would not make decisions. Authority would remain with the EU countries, while the experts would provide ideas and recommendations.
However, several EU countries objected. Germany and Italy were among those opposing the initiative. After consultations with EU officials, Kallas withdrew her proposal. The official statement was that several governments did not consider the chosen approach the right path at this time.
Promotion
French-German Plan
The conflict over the advisory group arises as Kallas also faces pressure over the future of the European External Action Service, the EEAS. France and Germany want a comprehensive reform. Tasks, personnel, or powers of the diplomatic service could be partially integrated into existing departments of the European Commission.
Power Struggle
This has sparked – again – a debate about the distribution of power within the EU. Opponents of the French-German reform fear that the European Commission will gain more influence over foreign policy. In practice, this could also strengthen the position of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vis-à -vis Kallas.
Kallas opposes a fundamental change to the current structure. According to her, there is broad support for the existing institutional setup. She emphasizes problems with the current EU decision-making and believes those should be addressed instead of drastically reorganizing the diplomatic service.
Duplicated Efforts
Proponents of the reform aim to reduce duplicated work between the diplomatic service and the Commission. Diplomatic work could be more closely linked with policy areas for which the Commission is already responsible, including trade and foreign aid. This would help prevent fragmentation of activities.
The EEAS diplomatic service was actually established in 2001 (after the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York) to ensure closer cooperation between Foreign Affairs, Defense, and International Cooperation within the EU, and to avoid having several different Commissioners and EU ministers involved.
Budget Cuts
Money is also a factor. The EEAS costs about one billion euros annually, while EU countries simultaneously push for lower spending in the future European budget. This results in two overlapping debates: how European foreign policy can be organized more effectively and how much funding should remain available for it.