WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3918/97 by Olivier DUPUIS to the Commission. Common European diplomacy
Date: 1997-11-28
Institutions: DUPUIS, European Parliament
Subjects: Commission Delegation, EU Member State, Nigeria, accession to the European Union, common foreign and security policy, diplomatic relations, diplomatic representation, embassy, third country

25. 5. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 158/195

(98/C 158/264)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3918/97

by Olivier Dupuis (ARE) to the Commission

(28 November 1997)

Subject: Common European diplomacy

In the Spencer report (A4-0193/97) the European Parliament highlighted (cid:145)the need to set up an analysis unit,
staffed by Community and national officials, to assess risks and threats from a European perspective and bring
national diplomatic corps and intelligence services into line with the new aspirations of the CFSP, inter alia by
making  it  possible  for  Member  States  to  use,  in  third  countries  where  they  have  no  diplomatic  mission,  the
delegations of the Commission for the purpose of representation of their interests in addition to those of the
Union(cid:146).

Moreover, in connection with the transfer of the capital of Nigeria, a proposal was made to group together all the
embassies of the Member States and the Commission delegation in a single building.

Has  the  Commission  begun  its  study,  and  what  stage  has  it  reached?  In  view,  moreover,  of  the  forthcoming
accession of new Member States, does the Commission not think that, for the sake of the cohesion and visibility
of Union, it is now becoming essential to combine the representations? Has the Commission made proposals to
the Council to this end? What progress has been made with the proposal to group together the embassies and the
Commission delegation in Nigeria(cid:146)s new capital?

Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission

(19 December 1997)

The  foreign  affairs  ministries  of  the  Member  States,  barring  Luxembourg  and  the  United  Kingdom,  and  the
Commission agreed in a memorandum of understanding of 18 April 1994 to establish their diplomatic missions
and the Commission delegation in a common building complex in Abuja, the new capital of Nigeria. Austria,
Finland  and  Sweden  acceded  to  that  memorandum  on  6  March  1996.  The  project  is  in  the  process  of  being
finalised. The participating partners, currently nine Member States plus the Commission, are set to conclude an
additional memorandum in the next few months on the distribution of the financing costs and the respective
rights to the premises once the project has been completed. The firm of architects and engineers which won the
international competition for the building project has been asked to draw up an invitation to tender dossier for the
building work.

Provisions for extending the project to new partners were set out in the building project for the allocation of the
areas for exclusive use, and arrangements were made for sharing the costs of using common and public areas.

The Commission shares the Honourable Member(cid:146)s opinion that this project, even if limited to a few Member
States,  is  a  practical  example  of  the  translation  into  practice  of  the  common  position  on  grouping  together
diplomatic missions as defined by the Council on 6 October 1995. The various stages of this project are being
carried out in conjunction with the Member States in the Council(cid:146)s CFSP working group, administrative affairs.

As  for  the  need  to  combine  the  Community  delegations  as  suggested  by  the  Honourable  Member,  the
Commission would like to stress that the Abuja project comes under the provisions of the second pillar of the
Treaty on European Union. This does not mean that such grouping together of diplomatic missions › already the
subject of a general memorandum of understanding of 21 February 1996 to which the new Member States have
acceded › cannot in future be extended to cooperation between the partners in other suitable fields.