By Martin Banks - 1st February 2012
I continue to look at ways to save money
Catherine Ashton
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton has made a robust defence of the "mounting cost" of running the EU's diplomatic corps.
She was responding to a question in parliament from UK Tory deputy Charles Tannock over the "mounting" structural costs of the External Action Service (EAS).
Tannock said the service would cost over €20m a year more to run than promised this year, yet it was "failing to perform effectively because its resources were focused on outdated priorities".
He asked her to explain the extra cost when she faced MEPs' questions in parliament on Wednesday.
She responded by stating that the service was now represented in places, such as Libya, where it had "not been active" the past and that it had staff and delegations "across the world".
"That requires resources which were not in the budget I inherited," she said.
She also told MEPs, "I continue to look at ways to save money and not to have excessive expenditure. We try to be as cost efficient as we can, but there are expectations of the service."
Earlier, Tannock said that Ashton had originally set up the EU's diplomatic service the EAS saying it would be cost neutral.
"But last month it was revealed not only that she was seeking extra spending power of more than €25m for 2012, putting the total bill above €400m and that the extra money was because of a structural overspend.
"At a time of austerity I am concerned about your demand for a further €25m to cover an expected overspending in the EAS. It betrays a desire to grow the service beyond its existing remit and before the EAS has been able to fully prove that it brings real value added in terms of improved efficiencies which were promised at the outset, such as cuts in bilateral embassies, as a result of the new multilateral diplomatic input.
"It has also become your baby which understandably you believe deserves more taxpayers' money."
Tannock, the Conservative foreign affairs spokesman in parliament, said the ECR group had argued for budget neutrality and for rationalisation of the EAS resources.
"The EU missions and their relative sizes are often still distributed according to historical legacies, and some cynics might argue pleasant postings, with large delegations in some parts, for example Fiji, and none in other growing regional economic hubs, such as Panama, which do not always reflect the EU's current priorities.
"Europe cannot afford, unless real value for money is first demonstrated, to pay for a service that still pursues last-century opportunities and fails to engage with new economic and political challenges."
