EU commission slammed for 'lack of focus' on foreign policy

A senior Polish MEP has launched a blistering attack on the commission for its "lack of attention" to foreign affairs in its post-2013 budget proposals.

Jacek Saryusz-Wolski a former chair of parliament's foreign affairs committee, was responding to a key budget speech by commission president José Manuel Barroso.

Addressing a conference in Brussels on Thursday, Barroso outlined the commission's broad budgetary ambitions for the seven-year spending period after 2013.

However, Saryusz-Wolski, who was in the packed audience to listen to Barroso's keynote address, was highly critical of what he called a "total absence" of any reference to the EU's external relations.

The MEP said, "I was amazed that he did not mention it once. It was what I call a very introverted speech where Barroso did not say a word about the EU's external relations policy. I find that very sad."

Saryusz-Wolski, a deputy chair of the EPP group and a former vice-president of parliament, said, "This suggests to me that the commission is not treating external relations as a priority.

"It is also clear that insufficient funds are being allocated to this important policy field."

"The impression from Barroso's speech is that the EU is an island in the ocean, with nothing around it.

"But, of course, the EU is not an island but very much part of the global economy."

He said the EU currently spends "too little" on external relations, also pointing out that "only" 20 per cent of its external relations budget was committed to "neighbourhood policy".

The MEP said, "There is a huge deficit in the current debate about the post-2013 budget. The commission is neglecting external relations which is a mistake.

"Let's not forget that what happens in, say, north Africa, has a huge impact on jobs and economies in Europe."

Meanwhile, further comment came from the WWF which also voiced "concern" about the commission's current budget proposals.

WWF economist Sébastien Godinot said, "Despite all the talk of green economy and resource efficiency in the air, all the proposals released so far have failed to show a more progressive approach.

"They continue to guarantee large amounts of money to be spent in areas that will have little direct benefit to citizens or the environment."

He said the next EU budget for 2014-2020 was a "massive €1000 billion opportunity which could leverage a green economy in Europe".

"It could put us back on track, enabling us to exit the current crisis and provide jobs, economic stability and a safer future for all.

"But for that the EU needs to make environment a crosscutting priority in the budget – in a much more ambitious way than what the commission has proposed for cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy."

Meanwhile, Marc-Olivier Herman, Oxfam International's EU policy advisor, says that new commission rules issued on Thursday "will shed light on betting on food commodities by financial traders, but will not do enough to prevent speculation from fuelling high and volatile food prices".

The warning comes from environment and development groups in a joint reaction to the new draft markets in financial instruments directive.

The proposed reform, to be debated by parliament and member states in the coming months, allows for limits on the number and size of bets that traders can make when buying and selling futures contracts in an attempt to restrict the impact on prices of commodities and tighten up on harmful 'high frequency trading'.

But Oxfam says the commission's proposal falls short of tackling food speculation head-on, saying, "It includes too many exemptions, allows EU member states to create 'alternative arrangements' to position limits and does not go far enough to clamp down on speculation that is divorced from supply and demand.

Herman said: “The commission's blueprint is lacking teeth on commodities speculation.

"As it stands now, the proposed reform is not robust enough to make sure excessive speculation does not cause drastic price swings in staple foods and to fix broken commodity markets so they work for food producers and consumers. For many people in developing countries, food prices are a matter of life and death."