page_title: High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
section_title: Catherine Ashton (2009–14)
hierarchical_section_title: High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Appointments / Catherine Ashton (2009–14)
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with EU High Representative Catherine Ashton between meetings at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium December 4, 2009. U.S. Embassy Brussels photo by Freddy Moris.
context_page_description: The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy within the European Union. The position is currently held by Josep Borrell.
  The post was created under the Treaty of Amsterdam as the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy; it then was occupied by Javier Solana for ten years, until it was aggrandised following the Lisbon Treaty, providing a seat on the European Commission, and a chair of the council of EU foreign ministers. Following the Lisbon Treaty, the post is assisted by the European External Action Service that was set up in December 2010.
context_section_description: Although Javier Solana was originally selected to be the first Foreign Minister the delays in introducing the post meant after 10 years of service he stood aside for a new candidate. After numerous candidates were put forward, EU leaders agreed on Catherine Ashton from the United Kingdom as the first merged High Representative. Ashton was previously the European Commissioner for Trade and otherwise had no foreign affairs experience. Ashton unexpectedly came to the top of the shortlist when she was nominated unanimously by the centre-left leaders who claimed the post. Ashton was confirmed by the European Parliament before she took up the post. In the same European Council meeting, Pierre de Boissieu was appointed Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, showing that the High Representative and the Secretary-General will no longer be the same person.
  In October 2010 most major appointments to the EEAS were made, including Pierre Vimont (France) as Secretary General, Helga Schmid (Germany) and Maciej Popowski (Poland) as Deputy Secretary Generals and David O'Sullivan (Ireland) as chief operating officer. Slowly other staff and ambassadors were appointed in cycles. Ashton formally launched the EEAS on 1 December 2010 at a low key event where she outlined her key priorities as relations with the US and China, climate change, poverty eradication, crisis management and counter-terrorism.
  Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake Ashton chaired a meeting of the foreign relations, development and environment DGs and experts from the Council and the Situation Centre (the EU intelligence-gathering agency). There they agreed on €3 million in aid, to look for further financial assistance, to send personnel to assess the situation and to co-ordinate pledges from member states. Ashton then chaired a meeting of member states' ambassadors and acted as a general co-ordinator; for example contacts from the UN went via Ashton. Although she refused to describe it as the first act of the external action service, Ashton did emphasise that it was the first time that such a co-ordination between all the various EU foreign policy actors had been accomplished before. Spain, which held the rotating Council presidency that would have taken charge before the Lisbon Treaty, took a back seat though assisted, for example by offering use of the Spanish base in Panama. However, the majority of aid relief was dealt with bilaterally between Haiti and individual member states and Ashton was criticised afterward for being one of the few foreign representatives not to travel to Haiti personally. Despite EU ministers then agreeing to deploy European gendarmes, criticism was levied at Ashton for failing to improve the EU's international profile during the crisis. Ashton replied stating that "There's been a recognition from the people of Haiti, the US, the UN and others of the extremely important role the EU has played. On the main issue, we should ask, have we tried to save lives, to support the people of Haiti? Yes we have."
  Criticism continued to mount, including complaints that she skipped a defence meeting to attend the inauguration of Ukraine's Prime Minister alleged bias towards British officials, lack of language skills and risking a UK-French feud over creating an EU military planning headquarters. She has been defended by some, including Commissioner Günther Oettinger, on the ground that she has had to take on a job that combines three previous jobs and is working on establishing the EEAS so she is unable to take on everything at once, nor please everyone. Despite early Spanish assistance during 2010, Ashton did find herself competing with the Spanish foreign minister on who was going to be speaking for the EU and the need to find consensus between the member states and institutions pushed back the expected operational date of the EEAS from spring 2010 to December 2010. In contrast to the Spanish position, in 2011 Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski said he would act as Ashton's "loyal deputy".
  Secretary General Pierre Vimont joined those de
caption: Ashton with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009
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