Stubb hosts EU meeting at resort in Lapland

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An unofficial meeting of eight foreign ministers during the weekend at the Saariselkä resort in Finnish Lapland was considered so successful that the group agreed on holding another one next year in Lapland.
      Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party) said that similar gatherings are to be held in other EU countries as well. The feeling was that smaller gatherings could bring significantly more efficiency to EU decision-making.
     
Speaking to reporters, Catherine Ashton, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said that a turning point had been reached in the construction of a new foreign policy in Europe.
      She said that discussions are concentrating more on content than on “that fluffy stuff”, she said on Saturday.
      In the field of foreign affairs she sees a need to systematically strengthen the EU’s position in adjacent areas, and with the most important concentration of power.
     
Ashton appeared more relaxed and self-confident in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat and three international news agencies than she has been in recent times.
      She has been the focus of sometimes intense criticism after taking office as the first “foreign minister” of the EU.
      She has been called a weak performer at a time when the EU institutions and member states around her have struggled for power in foreign affairs.
     
She said that the storminess has not disturbed her at all, adding that some of the expectations for the EU’s common foreign policy and the "European External Action Service" that is now under construction have been unrealistic.
      Whether it is over or not, the controversy has certainly has made Ashton the centre of attention. She was clearly at centre stage at the weekend retreat in Saariselkä, where she met with the foreign ministers of six EU member states, as well as Turkey.
     
The host, Foreign Minister Stubb, clearly aimed at supporting Ashton. He also urged participants to support the establishment of a planned EU Arctic Centre in Rovaniemi. One of the purposes of the unofficial gathering was to support Ashton as she builds up the new institution.
      Ashton welcomed the support she received from the ministers; she also promised Stubb that Finland would get be represented well in the new foreign affairs body.
      Stubb had said previously that Finland hopes to get two directors’ posts at EU missions, and between 15 and 30 posts in other tasks.
     
Catherine Ashton’s main goals include the establishment of the EU’s common foreign affairs administration, relations with areas adjacent to the EU, such as the Balkans and the Middle East, as well as the EU’s “strategic partners”.
      The United States is the first of these partners, followed by Russia. In addition, new power centres such as China and India also need attention.
      Ashton insists that she is getting enough support for her tasks from member states and foreign ministers, even though it has sometimes been hard to believe, considering the intensity of the criticism.
     
A serious test of the EU’s new foreign policy comes at the beginning of the week.
      Already on Sunday, Ashton left Saariselkä for the Middle East, an area where EU influence has traditionally suffered from differing points of view taken by the member-states.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  NEWS ANALYSIS: Finland to win in EU appointments game (3.11.2009)

See also:
  COLUMN: Europe does not have the time for this (2.3.2010)

Helsingin Sanomat