Diplomatic thaw

If and when the Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect, there will be a high representative of the Union for foreign affairs and security policy, who will belong both to the Council of Ministers and to the European Commission. Back in the days when the EU constitution was still alive, negotiations were started on the creation of a European External Action Service (EEAS) – a sort of diplomatic corps to serve the high representative, combining staff from the Commission, the Council secretariat and national foreign ministries. When the constitution bit the dust, plans for an EEAS went into the freezer, but now they are being defrosted. This month (6 February), the Commission announced that Gerhard Sabathil, who is head of its delegation in Berlin, would be director in charge of strategy, co-ordination and delegations in the external relations department (Relex). One of his tasks will be co-ordinating the Commission's approach to the resurrected external action service. Sabathil famously lamented that heads of Commission delegations in member states (even such important states as Germany) do not have ambassadorial status, whereas when he was head of the Commission's office in Oslo, he was an ambassador (to Norway and Iceland). Those officials wondering whether to join the EEAS can at least be assured that Sabathil will be attentive to their status.