The European Union should appoint one person to be its foreign policy chief and external relations secretary, the European commissioner for institutional reform said in remarks published on Monday.
Commissioner Mr Michel Barnier proposed in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper that the positions of High Representative for Foreign Affairs Mr Javier Solana and European Commissioner for External Affairs Mr Chris Patten be merged.
"Let's merge the two posts," he said. "Let's call it the Secretary of the European Union, similar to the Secretary of State you have in the United States."
His call fleshed out a proposal made in May by European Commission President Mr Romano Prodi. Britain and France, as well as Mr Solana himself, opposed Mr Prodi's proposal.
Mr Solana, a former NATO secretary-general and Spanish Foreign Minister, was appointed to act as a roving EU representative on foreign and security policy, reporting only to member-states and acting outside the Commission, the EU executive.
Mr Patten, a British former governor of Hong Kong, is a member of the Commission and controls the purse strings of EU foreign and emergency aid, and most of its external relations staff.
The EU is preparing to tackle such institutional reforms with fresh vigour after Ireland gave its approval on Sunday to the enlargement of the Union under the Nice Treaty.
Mr Barnier said he opposed reducing the number of commissioners or having an elected president of a reduced European Commission, as some have suggested to help accommodate up to 27 member-states.
He said the proposed foreign policy secretary would be a member of the Commission but would answer to the European Council of national EU leaders.
"With this secretary of the union, Europe would finally have, in the eyes of its citizens and the rest of the world, a single face and a strong voice to speak in its name," Mr Barnier said. - (Reuters)