The European Parliament today rejected a proposal by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton for a new European diplomatic corps.
Ms Ashton, charged under the EU's Lisbon treaty with setting up the External Action Service, unveiled a blueprint earlier that would see her hold important powers over the EU aid budget if she won support of EU states and the Parliament.
However, the main groups in the Parliament, ranging from the conservative EPP to the Socialists and Democrats, said the plan did not provide political accountability.
"A coherent and effective foreign policy service must be fully accountable to the European Parliament in budgetary and political terms," they said in a statement.
It called Ms Ashton's proposal to separate responsibility for development aid "artificial...(and) a recipe for incoherence".
Ms Ashton's proposal needs the support of the EU states and the parliament, though diplomats say resistance in parliament could be overcome - if EU countries threatened to drop the idea of a European diplomatic service altogether.
Reuters