Ashton in EU turf war over new diplomatic service

(CORDOBA) - The EU's under-fire foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton attempted to stem unease Friday over her position and what some see as a turf war over the top jobs in her new diplomatic service.

Ashton was in Spain for a meeting of EU foreign ministers, the day after a letter from Britain and Sweden came to light voicing concern about "some of the inter-institutional struggles evident in our current negotiations."

British peer Ashton told reporters "you'll see differences" from the national capitals and the European Commission over her role and the make-up of the EU's new External Action Service (EAS).

However she added that diverging views were a good thing as the service was built.

"It's brand new, it means we have to work out how that works," she told a press conference after two days of talks in Cordoba, southern Spain.

But "you'll see the synthesis of those differences," she added.

Ashton's post and the EAS that will work for her were both created by the EU's Lisbon Treaty, designed to streamline the workings of a bloc of half a billion people and help it speak with one voice.

However many of the EU foreign ministers admitted Friday that the new institutional architecture was not going to make it possible for everyone to agree on foreign affairs.

"Many participants admitted that not for every issue are we going to have a single voice," a spokesman for the Spanish EU presidency said.

"We need to focus on those issues on which we can have a common position," the spokesman added.

Ashton, who has no diplomatic experience and has never held elected office, has had a tough time ever since some members of the European parliament last year said that she was too inexperienced for the job.

She was also slammed roundly for not rushing to Haiti after a devastating earthquake on January 12. She finally made the trip on Wednesday.

She would now be taking every opportunity to meet up with European foreign ministers individually, her office said.

Several of the foreign ministers assembled in Cordoba were already happy to offer their support.

Britain's David Miliband, who signed the letter of concern about "struggles" with his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt, said he did not recognise the criticisms of Ashton and "I don't support them."

His letter had made a clear reference to fallout over the appointment of Joao Vale de Almeida, a close ally of European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso, as the top EU envoy to Washington.

However Miliband, a former colleague of Ashton in the British government, stressed there was "certainly not a battle between the commission and the member states."

German counterpart Guido Westerwelle echoed that the criticism was "largely ill-placed," while Finland's Alexander Stubb said Ashton had been "unfairly" criticised.

However for Stubb there was indeed a turf war.

"I condemn the institutional fight that's going on right now between the council secretariat and the commission," he said of a battle for control of key appointments, responsibilities and budgets in the new EAS' global diplomatic army of thousands.

The smaller EU nations fear the cake is being cut up by their larger neighbours.

In a separate letter, the foreign ministers of Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia demanded that each nation "be adequately represented" in the new diplomatic service.

Informal Meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers (Gymnich)