Communication from the Commission to the European Council of June 2006 - Europe in the World — Some Practical Proposals for Greater Coherence, Effectiveness and Visibility
Date: 2006-06-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: dissemination of EU information, domestic policy, foreign policy, vision of Europe

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 8.6.2006 
COM(2006) 278 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
to the European Council of June 2006 

Europe in the World — Some Practical Proposals for 
Greater Coherence, Effectiveness and Visibility 

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1. 

NEW CHALLENGES 

Since  the  end  of  the  Cold  War,  the  world  has  changed  very  fast.  Europe  faces  strong 
economic competition and new threats to its security. While Europe’s mature economies have 
many strengths, they also suffer from sluggish growth and ageing populations. The economic 
balance of power has shifted. Countries such as China and India are growing fast, and there is 
increasing competition for access to raw materials, energy resources and markets. Terrorism, 
the  proliferation  of  weapons  of  mass  destruction,  regional  conflicts,  failed  states  and 
organised crime remain as pressing as ever. 

Europe  has  the  potential  to  rise  to  these  challenges  and  to  share  in  the  new  opportunities 
created by emerging markets and globalisation. It has an open society that can absorb people, 
ideas  and  new  technologies.  Successive  enlargements  over  the  last  three  and  a  half  decades 
have demonstrated the EU’s ability to promote stability and prosperity and the success of this 
model  of  regional  integration.  With  a  combined  population  of  470m  and  a  quarter  of  the 
world’s income, the EU now accounts for over a fifth of world trade. We provide more than 
half  of  development  and  humanitarian  assistance  worldwide.  European  countries  make  a 
central contribution to all the important global institutions. The EU model of co-operation and 
integration is a pole of attraction for countries in our neighbourhood and beyond. 

Over  the  last  fifty  years  the  EU  has  developed  a  series  of  external  policy  instruments, 
political,  economic,  commercial  and  financial,  which  help  us  to  protect  and  promote  our 
interests and our values. More recently these instruments have been diversified in areas where 
member states felt they needed to work in common, and a High Representative for Common 
Foreign  and  Security  Policy  was  appointed,  to  enhance  the  scope  and  effectiveness  of  the 
EU’s external action. Military instruments have been created to reinforce civil instruments of 
crisis management. 

Increasingly  the  EU’s  internal  policies  –  for  example  the  environment,  energy,  competition 
policy,  agriculture  and  fisheries,  transport,  the  fight  against  terrorism  and  illegal  migration, 
dealing with global pandemics – impact on international relationships and play a vital part in 
the  EU’s  external  influence.  Conversely,  many  of  Europe’s  internal  policy  goals  depend  on 
the effective use of external policies. 

This  paper  seeks  to  examine  how,  within  the  present  Treaty  context,  we  can  address  the 
external  challenges  facing  Europe  using  the  available  internal  and  external  policies  more 
coherently  and  effectively.  It  is  not  intended  to  re-open  a  debate  on  the  future  of  the 
Constitutional Treaty or to redefine the respective responsibilities of the different institutional 
actors.  Rather,  it  seeks  to  make  pragmatic  proposals  to  enable  the  Union  to  define  a  strong 
sense  of  collective  purpose  in  our  external  action  and  to  ensure  that  this  is  backed  by  the 
necessary policy instruments. 

On  this  basis,  the  paper  proposes  that  the  Member  States  and  the  EU  institutions  work 
together to address the following issues: 

•  How  to  develop  and  implement  European  external  policy,  anticipating  future  threats  and 

opportunities. 

•  How  to  increase  the  effectiveness  and  impact  of  EU  policies  and  actions,  using  all 
available  instruments  –  external  policies  and  internal  policies  -  more  coherently  and 

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drawing  on  the  particular  competences  and  strengths  of  the  Member  States  and  the 
institutions. 

•  How to strengthen the democratic accountability and visibility of EU policies and actions 

and thus to increase their public acceptance. 

2. 

THE EU’S EXTERNAL POLICY ASSETS  

European citizens expect the Union to use its substantial international influence to protect and 
promote their interests and there is an expectation among our international partners for Europe 
to  assume  its  global  responsibilities.  In  order  to  achieve  this,  the  EU  has  to  make  more 
effective use of its external policy assets. As the European Security Strategy of 2003 argues, 
the EU can have greater impact by acting collectively, rather than as a sum of its component 
parts.  This  principle  is  already  well  established  in  an  impressive  range  of  EU  external 
policies. 

Enlargement.  The  EU  started  with  six  Member  States  and  now  has  twenty-five.  Through 
successive  accession  negotiations,  the  EU  has  extended  peace  and  stability,  economic 
prosperity,  democracy,  human  rights  and  the  rule  of  law  across  Europe.  Strict  accession 
criteria combined with a credible EU perspective provide strong leverage to stabilisation and 
reform in candidate countries.  

The  European  Neighbourhood  Policy,  is  a  priority  of  the  EU’s  external  relations  which 
seeks  to  harness  the  attraction  and  influence  of  Europe,  with  strong  emphasis  on  institution 
building  and  reform.  Its  success  depends  on  the  active  involvement  of  a  wide  range  of 
external and internal policies and offers a stake in the EU’s internal market to the countries 
concerned.  

Trade and Competitiveness. From its inception, the EU has worked for the gradual opening 
of  global  markets  and  a  rules-based  international  trading  system,  offering  the  predictability 
needed to foster investment and greater choice. Over time, this approach has helped develop a 
new  dynamic  that  is  reinforcing  the  external  competitiveness  of  the  Union,  lowering  prices 
and  improving  consumer  choice.  At  the  same  time,  improved  access  for  products  from 
developing countries has offered them more jobs, growth and investment. 

Development.  The  new  Development  Strategy  and  comprehensive  policies  towards  Africa, 
the Caribbean, and the Pacific, demonstrates the EU’s major role in support of the Millennium 
Development  Goals  and  effective  multilateralism,  in  the  context  of  globalisation.  The  new 
Financial  Perspectives  and  the  10th  European  Development  Fund  offer  a  range  of  financial 
instruments including specific provisions on governance,  human rights, election observation 
missions,  peace  keeping,  investment  climate,  regional  integration.  These  are  supported  by 
new arrangements for joint programming and coordinated action with member States on the 
ground. 

Strategic relations, political dialogue and CFSP. The EU has a wide range of contractual 
relations and political dialogues with strategic partners and regional groupings throughout the 
world.  These  include  co-operation  with  the  US  on  homeland  security  issues  and  the  fight 
against  terrorism,  the  energy  dialogue  with  Russia  and  established  partnerships  with  other 
major producers and their organisations, human rights dialogue with many countries, as well 
as  discussion  of  global  sustainable  development  with  China  and  India.  We  are  committed 

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supporters  of  multilateralism  and  play  an  important  role  in  the  key  international  institutions 
and fora through the representation of Member States and the Community. The development 
of  CFSP  has  improved  the  EU’s  capacity  to  develop  positions  on  important  external  policy 
questions,  and  the  full  association  of  the  Commission  has  helped  to  bring  coherence  with 
Community policies. 

Disaster  Response,  Crisis  Management  and  European  Security  and  Defence  Policy 
(ESDP) The EU makes an important contribution to crisis management through a wide range 
of policies. Humanitarian assistance, civil protection and reconstruction have been crucial in 
recent crises in Afghanistan, Iraq and countries affected by the Tsunami; in state-building and 
post-crisis situations in Aceh; and in the context of conflict resolution and prevention in the 
Former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia  (FYROM).  These  instruments  combine  with  the 
EU’s growing ESDP capacity in the overall crisis response of the EU. The military and police 
missions for example, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM and the Democratic Republic of 
Congo and the response to the challenges in Kosovo, illustrate the impressive development of 
ESDP,  as  well  as  the  importance  of  effective  interaction  between  all  relevant  policy 
instruments. Crisis management operations are very visible elements of the Union’s external 
action. 

3. 

THE EXTERNAL PROJECTION OF EU INTERNAL POLICIES  

There is an inextricable link between the EU’s internal and external policies. From the very 
beginning the Treaty recognized that there could be no internal market without the common 
customs  regime  and  a  common  trade  policy.  The  creation  of  the  euro  required  a  common 
monetary  policy,  with  direct  external  consequences.  Similar  reasoning  applies  in  a  range  of 
other policies – for example agriculture and fisheries, regional policy, employment and social 
policy, environment, migration and border control, the fight against terrorism and transport (in 
particular aviation) – where the development of internal policies has naturally led to a more 
active external role for the EU. In many of these areas the external protection and projection 
of  EU  interests  is  a  matter  of  shared  responsibility  between  Member  States  and  the 
Community  which  presents  particular  challenges  in  achieving  coherence.  Yet  there  is  a 
growing range of policies and instruments that affect Europe’s external relations and therefore 
need to be taken into account in the EU’s foreign policy objectives: 

In  the  context  of  the  Lisbon  agenda  –  our  partnership  for  growth  and  jobs  internal  and 
external  policies  are  interdependent,  in  a  world  of  open  markets,  free  capital  movements, 
globalised financial markets. Economic and monetary union has led to the emergence of the 
Euro  as  the  world’s  second  most  important  international  reserve  and  trade  currency,  giving 
major  influence  to  the  EU  globally.  We  have  however  yet  to  resolve  the  question  of  EU 
representation  in  international  economic  and  monetary  institutions.  The  completion  of  the 
internal  market  has  led  to  the  adoption  of  EU  standards  in  key  technologies  around  the 
world. Examples include European norms and regulations applied in China’s motor industry, 
food  safety,  and  the  GSM  standard  for  mobile  communications,  cordless  phones  and 
technologies  that  are  delivering  broadband  to  tens  of  millions  of  customers  globally. 
Competition  policy  provides  an  important  regulatory  instrument  to  address  issues  such  as 
international  cartels  or  abuses  by  dominant  undertakings.  EU  competition  policy  aims  at 
protecting the internal market, but in the global economy, most of the companies addressed by 
antitrust  and  merger  decisions  are  international  players.  Taken  together,  these  policies 
reinforce the EU's external competitiveness by fostering a level playing-field for the free flow 
of international trade. 

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The  EU  has  been  in  the  lead  in  the  international  response  to  key  issues  that  cannot  be 
constrained  by  national  boundaries  like  climate  change,  health  pandemics  and  good 
governance  in  managing  the  development  and  trade  of  genetically  modified  products.  The 
expertise and experience gained by the EU through its Sustainable Development Strategy and 
in dealing with climate change, air and water pollution and other trans-national environment 
threats  has  made  a  major  contribution  to  international  negotiations  establishing  regulatory 
standards  in  these  areas  and  providing  a  model  for  many  countries  and  regions  which  are 
grappling  with  the  same  problems.  The  EU’s  influence  on  international  environmental 
standards has contributed to creating a level playing field for EU’s businesses and fostered the 
export  potential  of  our  clean  technologies.  Similarly,  there  are  strong  demands  from  third 
countries  to  cooperate  with  EU  programmes  like  research  policy,  education  and  transport 
(GALILEO). 

The  fast  development  of  EU  policy  in  the  area  of  energy  and  justice  and  home  affairs  is 
reflected  in  the  external  dimensions  of  these  issues.  The  debate  on  energy  policy  –  as 
recognised by the European Council’s support for the Commission’s recent Green Paper – has 
underlined the EU’s key objective of aiming for a minimum level of the overall EU energy 
mix  to  come  from  secure  and  low-carbon  energy  sources.  Our  success  in  achieving  this 
depends crucially both on the effectiveness of internal policies including the development of 
energy  efficient  technologies,  competition  policy,  diversification  of  energy  sources, 
completion  of  the  internal  energy  market  and  its  extension  to  relevant  ENP  and  EAA 
countries  through  expansion  of  the  Energy  Community  Treaty,  as  well  as  on  our  relations 
with major suppliers, transit countries and other major consumers. 

The completion of the European area of freedom, security and justice, together with the 
fight  against  terrorism,  are  vital  to  our  internal  security  and  rightly  high  on  the  political 
agenda. Comprehensive and balanced management of migration is increasingly important for 
ensuring  good  and  stable  relations  with  our  neighbours,  for  responding  to  demands  of  our 
labour  markets  as  well  as  for  better  protecting  our  external  borders.  These  measures  are 
essential if we are to address the threats of organised crime in particular trafficking in human 
beings and of illicit drugs. Equally, the fight against global terrorism requires a co-ordinated 
response between internal and external policies. 

4. 

ACHIEVING GREATER CONSENSUS AND COHERENCE 

In addressing the challenges and responsibilities of articulating coherent and effective external 
policies,  the  governments  of  the  Member  States  must  consider  what  is  either  necessarily  or 
more  usefully  achieved  at  the  level  of  the  EU  within  the  provisions  of  the  Treaties.  The 
Commission’s role is to contribute analysis and proposals reflecting the common interest of 
the EU. 

The success of EU external action depends on three main factors: 

* 
first  and  foremost,  political  agreement  among  Member  States  on  the  goals  to  be 
achieved through the EU. This requires a strong partnership between the EU institutions and a 
clear focus on a limited number of strategic priorities where Europe can make the difference, 
rather than dispersing efforts across the board. This is the condition sine qua non; 

second,  whether  the  available  policy  instruments  are  suited  to  the  task  at  hand,  are 

* 
backed with the necessary resources, and present clear advantages; 

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* 

third, the role and responsibility of the EU institutions and the legal environment. 

As  in  national  administrations,  even  when  there  is  sufficient  political  will,  the  EU’s  impact 
falls  short  when  there  are  unresolved  tensions  or  a  lack  of  coherence  between  different 
policies.  There  is  a  need  for  strong  and  permanent  efforts  to  enhance  the  complementary 
interaction  of  various  policy  actions  and  to  reconcile  different  objectives  (for  example  in 
trade, agriculture, development, environment or migration). For the EU, there is the additional 
challenge in ensuring coherence between EU and national actions.  

Unsatisfactory  co-ordination  between  different  actors  and  policies  means  that  the  EU  loses 
potential  leverage  internationally,  both  politically  and  economically.  Despite  progress  with 
improving  co-ordination,  there  is  considerable  scope  to  bring  together  different  instruments 
and  assets,  whether  within  the  Commission,  between  the  Council  and  Commission,  or 
between the EU institutions and the Member States. Furthermore, the impact of EU’s policy is 
weakened  by  a  lack  of  focus  and  continuity  in  its  external  representation.  Within  the 
framework of the existing treaties the Community and intergovernmental methods need to be 
combined  on  the  basis  of  what  best  achieves  the  desired  outcome,  rather  than  institutional 
theory or dogma. 

The Constitutional Treaty provides for a number of important institutional changes designed 
to improve the coherence of the EU’s external action. These include the appointment of the 
Foreign Affairs Minister-Vice-President of the Commission; the appointment by the European 
Council  of  a  President  for  a  term  of  two  and  a  half  years  who  will  represent  the  Union  on 
issues  concerning  CFSP  at  his  or  her  level;  the  creation  of  a  European  External  Action 
Service; the single legal personality for the EU; the end of the rotating Presidency and other 
external policy provisions.  

The  objectives  of  the  Constitutional  Treaty  remain  valid  and  would  increase  the  scope  to 
address the challenges for the EU’s external policy. Nonetheless there are a number of steps 
within the limits of the present Treaties that could be considered. 

5. 

THE WAY AHEAD — PRACTICAL STEPS 

Responding  to  the  challenges  outlined  in  this  paper  is  a  shared  responsibility.  To  punch  its 
weight,  Europe  needs  to  make  the  most  of  our  combined  resources  at  both  European  and 
national  level.  Drawing  on  their  respective  strengths,  all  actors  need  to  work  more  closely 
together  to  maximise  the  collective  impact  of  the  Union.  More  attention  is  required  in 
particular to the role of internal policies in external relations, for example in the environment, 
justice and security issues, transport or energy where the EU has unparalleled experience and 
influence, including in the Commission’s management of Community policies. 

5.1. 

Better Strategic Planning 

There  is  already  a  high  level  of  consensus  on  the  broad  framework  of  the  EU’s  external 
objectives in the Treaties. Together with the European Security Strategy of 2003, these basic 
texts  are  developed  through  a  comprehensive  set  of  more  detailed  Council  conclusions, 
strategy papers, programming documents for financial assistance and the like. The European 
Parliament’s resolutions and reports complement the strategic planning of the EU’s external 
relations.  There  is  however  considerable  scope  to  establish  a  more  systematic  approach  to 

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setting strategic objectives and political priorities at both geographical and thematic level so 
that policy objectives guide the choice of policy instruments (rather than the reverse). 

•  The Commission intends to improve the internal coherence and effectiveness of its input to 
EU external policy across the full range of its responsibilities. Action to improve strategic 
planning  and  priority  setting  will  be  pursued  in  order  to  ensure  the  right  policy  mix  on 
external issues whether geographical or thematic. This covers the following main areas: 

•  The  Commission  will  strengthen 

the  External  Relations  Group  of 
the  role  of 
Commissioners under the authority of the President in identifying strategic priorities. The 
Group  will  be  enlarged  to  include  other  Commissioners  with  relevant  portfolios  to  form 
ad-hoc  groups  for  the  discussion  of  specific  geographic  and  thematic  issues.  These 
discussions  should  be  conducted  on  an  ongoing  basis,  for  example  to  ensure  the  timely 
preparation  of  internal  policy  issues  to  be  raised  at  bilateral  Summits  or  in  international 
negotiations.  Other  Commissioners’  groups  will  also  contribute  on  thematic  issues  to 
ensuring more coherent action and clearer priority setting by the college. The College as a 
whole  will  have  more  frequent  orientation  debates  on key  geographic or thematic issues. 
The Commission will invite the High Representative to be associated with the work of the 
Relex Group, particularly on strategic planning. 

•  The Commission will improve reporting and analytical capacities both in Brussels and in 
its  Delegations,  introducing  greater  flexibility  in  allocation  of  resources  and  expertise  in 
response to evolving needs, and enhancing training. This should enable the Commission to 
provide better input to Coreper, the Political and Security Committee (PSC) and relevant 
Council Working Groups and European Parliament Committees. When appropriate, Heads 
of Delegation could be invited to participate in the work of Council groups. 

•  The  Commission  has  undertaken  to  enter  into  a  regular  dialogue  with  the  European 
Parliament on the content of the draft country, regional and thematic strategy papers and to 
take  due  account  of  the  position  of  the  European  Parliament  when  implementing  the 
strategies. 

The  following  measures  would  provide  an  improved  basis  for  co-operation  between  the 
Commission,  the  High  Representative  and  the  Council  in  their  strategic  planning,  and  in 
particular development of joint assessments, joint strategies and joint action: 

•  Every six months the incoming President of the European Council and Foreign Minister, 
the  President  of  the  Commission  and  External  Relations  Commissioner  and  the  High 
Representative  should  meet  informally  to  undertake  an  overview  of  the  Union’s  external 
action. Other Commissioners may also be associated with these meetings. 

•  The principle of joint papers for policy discussions in the Council and its working groups 
should  be  established,  based  on  intensified  co-operation  and  contacts  between  the 
Commission services and Council Policy Unit.  

•  Earlier preparation of Summits with key partners to identify key internal policy issues to be 
raised.  This  should  include  timely  discussion  in  Coreper  to  ensure  coherence  between 
preparation of external and internal policy issues. 

•  The  Council  and  Commission  should  explore  better  ways  of  exchanging  reporting  and 
other information, on the basis of reciprocity, including from Commission Delegations and 

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EU  Special  Representatives  (EUSRs).  This  could  include  sharing  of  reporting  and 
analytical resources, inter alia between the Situation Centre in the Council Secretariat and 
the Crisis Room in the Commission. 

•  Closer  co-ordination  between  Council  secretariat  and  Commission  staff  in  these  areas 
should  provide  a  more  solid  basis  for  Member  States  to  define  strategy  in  the  Council, 
including where appropriate at the level of the European Council. 

•  The  Council,  could  improve  up-stream  co-ordination  to  promote  the  emergence  of 
consensus  on  issues  of  EU  relevance  that  are  subject  to  discussions  in  multilateral 
organisations  (UN,  IFIs)  informal  bodies  (G7/G8,  G20)  and  other  fora  of  global 
governance, and regional organisations. Where the Community is already a member of UN 
bodies,  multilateral  and  regional  organisations,  co-ordination  in  Council  on  the  EU 
position between the Member States, the Presidency and the Commission is already well 
established.  This  experience  should  be  extended  through  Community  representation  in 
other  fora  where  possible  and  should  include  joint  identification  of  future  agenda  items, 
advance  distribution  of  analyses  and  policy  papers  to  all  Member  State  representatives, 
joint  presentation  of  the  EU  line  to  partner  countries  by  the  Commission  and  the 
Presidency in key, third country capitals and a reinforced presence of Commission experts 
to facilitate co-ordination by Presidency. Member States could actively pursue agreement 
with  non-EU  members  to  ensure  full  Commission  participation  e.g.  in  the  external 
representation of the euro-zone in the context of G7, G20 or the Financial Stability Forum.  

5.2. 

Increasing Effectiveness and Impact through Better Delivery 

Even  when  the  EU  has  clear  objectives  and  an  agreed  course  of  action,  the  impact  and 
effectiveness of our action is often hampered by mixed messages as well as slow and complex 
implementing procedures. The EU therefore needs to consider action in the following areas: 

•  Ensuring that, once a policy decision has been taken by the EU, all actors integrate this into 
their  diplomatic  and  public  messages  as  well  as  in  their  own  policy  development.  This 
implies  reinforced  coordination  in  Brussels  as  well  as  better  use  of  the  network  of 
Commission  Delegations,  EU  Special  Representatives  and  Member  States’  Embassies  to 
convey clear, single messages to partners. 

•  Developing  new  working  methods  and  procedures  within  the  Commission  to  allow  real-
time policy decisions in response to evolving events, consistent with the requirements of 
collective responsibility (collegiality). 

•  In crisis situations, this could include using existing internal coordination mechanisms and 

making them more effective externally. 

•  Implementing  faster  and  more  flexible  financial  procedures  and  procurement  systems  in 
full  respect  of  the  principles  of  transparency,  accountability  and  sound  financial 
management (including in the management of the CFSP budget and instruments of crisis 
management).  With  the  support  of  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament,  the 
Commission is rationalising the structure of its external financing instruments in order to 
enhance  and  simplify  the  implementation  of  assistance  under  the  new  Financial 
Perspectives.  Furthermore,  the  Commission  has  recently  made  further  proposals  to 
simplify the Financial Regulation to this effect. 

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•  The  Commission  will  bring  forward  proposals  to  intensify  co-operation  with  Member 
States and the European Parliament in relation to politically sensitive actions and projects 
funded by the Community budget (particularly where the deployment of national personnel 
and resources is concerned). 

5.3. 

Better Co-operation between EU Institutions and Member States 

In  support  of  these  policy  measures,  there  is  considerable  scope  to  promote  mutual 
understanding  through  improved  co-operation  and  a  shared  diplomatic  culture  between  the 
different actors in EU external policy.  

•  The  Commission  is  preparing  an  enhanced  programme  of  exchange  of  personnel  with 
diplomatic services of the Member States and the staff of the Council Secretariat, both in 
Delegations and at Headquarters.  

•  Member  States  could  open  up  national  diplomatic  training  schemes  to  staff  in  EU 
institutions  working  on  external  relations  issues.  Commission  and  Council  could  include 
national  diplomats  in  training  at  EU  level.  Member  States  could  intensify  training  of 
national staff on EU issues. 

•  The Council and the Commission should propose double-hatting of Heads of Delegations 
and  EU  Special  Representatives  where  appropriate,  for  example  in  the  Western  Balkans, 
while  respecting  Treaty  responsibilities  and  institutional  balance.  Such  arrangements 
should  draw  on  the  positive  experience  of  double-hatting  in  Skopje,  aiming  to  unite  the 
EU´s presence as far as possible in Sarajevo and Pristina. Elsewhere, the Commission will 
continue co-operating with EUSRs and supporting their tasks. 

•  Member States’ representatives in the governing bodies of multilateral institutions should 
coordinate with EU institutions at appropriate level in order to promote common positions 
in matters of common concern. 

•  Commission  Delegations  will  fully  support  the  High  Representative.  Similarly,  EUSRs 
could  be  more  closely  associated  with  Commission  activities  and  visits.  Delegations  will 
also  provide  support  for  visiting  European  Parliament  Committees  and  delegations.  The 
EU  should  give  further  consideration  to  sharing  of  premises  and  support  services  for 
Member State and EU external representations in third countries. 

•  Develop  co-operation  between  Member  States  in  the  area  of  consular  assistance, 
particularly  in  crisis  situations.  Explore  scope  for  Commission  Delegations  to  play  a 
supporting/complementary role in this area. 

5.4. 

Improved Accountability and Visibility  

There  is  a  need  to  strengthen  the  accountability  of  the  EU’s  external  action.  The  European 
Parliament  and  National  Parliaments  have  an  essential  role  to  play.  Such  measures  should 
include: 

•  More regular exchanges between competent European Parliament bodies with the HR/SG, 
Members  of  the  Commission.  Appropriate  arrangements  should  be  further  developed  for 
EU Special Representatives and Heads of Delegation to provide input to the work of the 
European Parliament. 

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There is also a need to explain better and mobilise public support : 

•  Reinforcing “public diplomacy”: in third countries to promote EU policies and models, to 
increase  the  visibility  of  the  EU’s  external  action,  development  assistance  and  disaster 
relief (with concrete examples, not just figures).  

•  Developing awareness of the EU e.g. through the EU Visitors Programme and scholarship 

programmes with third countries;  

•  Within the EU, promoting the involvement of citizens in public debates on EU external 

policy by Member States and the institutions. 

•  Issuing  joint  public  and  press  statements  on  issues  of  shared  responsibility  between 
Commission  and  Council.  Developing  co-operation  between  Member  States  and  EU 
institutions on information policy on external relations issues, both in the EU and in third 
countries. 

6. 

CONCLUSION 

This paper argues that there are benefits for the EU’s external action in establishing closer and 
mutually supportive relations between all the actors involved at both EU and national level. In 
the  short-term,  individual  actors  and  institutions  may  see  advantages  in  the  freedom  of 
manoeuvre  that  comes  from  exercising  their  responsibilities  in  an  autonomous  way.  In  the 
medium  and  long  term,  the  EU  has  shown  its  capacity to help Member States to  meet their 
external policy objectives. The overall effectiveness and therefore the global influence of the 
EU depend on optimal use of all available leverage in support of external goals. Underlying 
the  practical  steps  proposed  in  this  paper  is  the  conviction  that  flexibility,  the  provision  of 
value-added in external policy, and the building of common approaches among the Member 
States and the institutions must be at the top of our agenda.  

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