mr president the european external action service will be responsible to the high representative
the role of the high representative according to article eighteen is to conduct the european union's common foreign and security policy as mandated by the council
the council for all its faults at least contains representatives of member states
however influential voices among the political groups in this parliament are arguing for the commission to play a much more decisive part in the service
in particular it is argued that the commission should provide at least fifty of the staff of the external action service and that the service should not be subject to influence from intergovernmentalism
i apologise for that word
it is not mine but i see it as a code for the council and the european council
furthermore of course the high representative is an ex officio vice-president of the commission
all this seems to point to the likelihood that in reality the eu's foreign policy will be run by the commission and the idea that it is run by the high representative with a mandate from the council would be legal fiction
would you agree
