UK COULD HAVE LOST AN EU COMMISSIONER

Marjorie Smith

            One thing about the new woman or man who will become the new EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, that is little known, is that they will take up their Member State's representation in the European Commission.

            That's because the new post-holder will not only be a member of the 27 seat college of Commissioners but also be a Vice-President of the European Commission. The new post-holder will also report to the Council of Ministers General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC). The GAERC meets monthly and is made up of the 27 Foreign Affairs Ministers from each of the Member States.

            For example, if David Milliband had become the new foreign policy chief, then the UK would not have kept its normal Commissioner post. The same applies to anybody who takes up the post, they will forego their Member state's normal position within the Commission.

          One other aspect of the new post of EU Foreign Minister that is little mentioned is that the position itself is an institutional hybrid. The post involves loyalties to both the European Commission and the Council of Ministers, with the Minister being a Vive-President in the Commission and directly reporting to the 27 EU Member States'Foreign Ministers in the Council of Minsiters. Up until now, there has been no such institutional hybridisation in the EU. It will be intersting to see how this develops.

            Consequently, since the post involves such divided loyalties between the Council and the Commission, anybody who takes up the post would be well-advised to have their offices in neither in the Council of Ministers' Justus Lipsus building nor in the Commission's landmark Berlaymont building.