EU chided over diplomatic service run by Baroness Ashton

Political leadership and visibility of the External Action Service could be improved if there were more coordination and synergy between it, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, as was the intention when the functions of High Representative, Commission Vice-President and Foreign Affairs Council chair were merged, said foreign affairs Members of the European Parliament on the 23 April 2013 in their review of the EU's new diplomatic corps two years after it was set up.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Ashton to leave EU foreign policy job next year http://www.europeansources.info/record/ashton-to-leave-eu-foreign-policy-job-next-year/

ESO: Background information: External Action Service review: why it's important http://www.europeansources.info/record/external-action-service-review-why-its-important/

ESO: Background Information: Germany calls for more powerful EU diplomatic service http://www.europeansources.info/record/germany-calls-for-more-powerful-eu-diplomatic-service/

Spiegel Online International, 23.04.13: Uniquely Poor Management: Report Skewers Top EU Diplomat Ashton http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/report-criticizes-eu-foreign-policy-chief-catherine-ashton-a-895933.html

European Parliament: Press Release, 23.04.13: EEAS could do much better, say MEPs in first major review http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pressroom/content/20130422IPR07535/

EU: EEAS: Press Release, A314/13: Statement by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton on EEAS Review http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/137458.pdf

Blog: Foreign Policy Association: Reflections on the EEAS Review, 22.08.13 http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2013/08/22/reflections-on-the-eeas-review/

ESO: Background information: Ashton drops big ideas on EU foreign service http://www.europeansources.info/record/ashton-drops-big-ideas-on-eu-foreign-service/

The Independent, 07.03.14: The quiet diplomat: Catherine Ashton - recognised and admired in all the world’s troubled countries, yet ridiculed at home http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/the-quiet-diplomat-catherine-ashton--recognised-and-admired-in-all-the-worlds-troubled-countries-yet-ridiculed-at-home-9177573.html

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