Spaans voorzitterschap heeft vertrouwen in sluiten akkoord over de Europese Diplomatieke Dienst (en)

The Spanish Presidency is confident that on Monday it can close a political agreement on setting up the European External Action Service (EEAS) during the meeting, which will be attended by the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Miguel Ángel Moratinos and the head of European diplomacy, Catherine Asthon.

The European Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration, Marcos Sefcovic, and representatives of the European Parliament will also be taking part in the meeting, which will be held at the Palacio de Viana in Madrid.

The EEAS was approved by the EU i-27 at the end of April, but it still needs the approval of the European Parliament, which wants to have more say in the structure of the future EU diplomatic service, one of the principal new features of the Treaty of Lisbon.

Spain is "optimistic" that the last loose ends can be resolved and that its presidency semester can be closed with an agreement on getting the service up and running within the next few months.

The future diplomatic representation of the EU, which will be led by Ashton, will have a staff of approximately 6.000, made up, in equal parts, of people from the European Commission, the European Council and the twenty-seven member states.