ECFR: After Lisbon - Is Europe becoming a global power?

It is almost 40 years since Henry Kissinger demanded a single telephone number from the Europeans. The joke is as old as Methuselah. But now the European Union finally has one.

Well, actually, it is not one but two telephone numbers, and if you include the Commission then it is three. And, frankly, it is questionable whether President Obama will ever dial any of them. Nevertheless, the European Union's new competences and power structures are beginning to crystallize. They are still not completely clear. There will be toings and froings over von Rompuy's and Ashton's actual remits within the European Union. However it is clear that there will soon be more foreign policy governance at the EU level than before, and that is fantastic news.

Jean Monnet said that institutions generate gravitational force, extending their influence into the political sphere, clearing a space for themselves. This should also apply to the new posts at the top of the European Union and the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Union' foreign service. The objective is to turn the EEAS into an innovative, post-modern foreign policy instrument that will not only enable the European Union to defend its values and views in the world, but also better protect the common interests of the member states.

This noble goal was severely jeopardized by a grotesque dispute over personnel in the run up to the nominations. Weeks before the special summit in November, second rate names for the posts designed to embody the European Union's future strength were circulating, while prominent candidates were refused nomination in order not to jeopardize their national careers. Important EU countries such as Germany failed even to make any personnel recommendations at all. The symbolism of the Lisbon Treaty appeared to dissipate before its ink was dry. The European Union was on the verge of botching one of its finest hours. 

Admittedly: von Rompuy and Ashton are not the most well known. However, they have the bonus of being unknown quantities - not an a priori disadvantage for a new office. Following the difficult nominations, everything now appears to be proceeding quickly and the establishment of the new posts and institutions is rapidly exerting a unique gravitational force within the system.

Full text

By Ulrike Guérot

European Council on Foreign Relations