National parliaments back European diplomatic service

National parliaments back European diplomatic service : (...) Members of EU national parliaments gave their backing on Wednesday to the creation of an ambitious European external action service as proposed by MEPs. However, representatives of several parliaments, including the German Bundestag, voiced fears about losing their power of scrutiny over foreign policy, during a meeting between the EP Foreign Affairs Committee and representatives of national parliaments.

The representatives of the foreign affairs committees of the national parliaments of the 27 Member States, meeting in Brussels with their EP counterparts, overwhelmingly supported the vision of the two European Parliament rapporteurs, Elmar Brok (EPP, DE) and Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, BE). The two MEPs advocate a broader scope for the service - including development policy and humanitarian aid, enlargement and neighbourhood policy - and the attachment of the service to the European Commission for budgetary purposes.

According to committee chair Gabriele Albertini (EPP, IT), 'this meeting is happening just in time', at a moment when the various institutions are adopting their negotiating positions. He believed it was 'essential that the EU have a common foreign policy subject to parliamentary scrutiny'. (...)