An audience with Ashton
Civitas, 12 May 2010
Yesterday, Catherine Ashton gave a lecture at LSE on ‘Economics and Politics post-Lisbon’ writes Natalie Hamill. Ashton opened her speech with an anecdote, stating that her young daughter had thought her title (Baroness) meant she was “half way between a princess and a politician”. Listening to her expand on what her new EU foreign policy role entails, and what she has been doing since entering office, it seems closer to the truth to say that her new role requires her to be half way between a politician and superwoman.
As the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine (or Cathy as she prefers to be called), has the overwhelming responsibility of being the foreign affairs leader for the EU-bloc. (She is also the first Vice President in the Commission). The role would be demanding at the best of times (she wryly admitted that she now lives partly in the UK, partly in Brussels and partly on a plane…), but Cathy has the added responsibility of providing the flesh to the skeletal structure of the foreign affairs role; she must define the position and how pivotal it will be to the workings of the EU. Add to this an economic crisis and a fairly hostile reception to her appointment and it’s not surprising that she wishes she had “tweaked” the Lisbon Treaty (which established the role) and “filled in a few of the blanks” when, as Leader of the House of Lords, she played a key role is passing the Treaty through the House.
And yet before us at LSE stood a humble lady who seemed determined to win over her audience. Her speech included some well–rehearsed lines about the benefits of the Lisbon Treaty, including its provision of a single voice for Europe (although she was equally hasty to argue that the Treaty amplifies what the EU can achieve without removing powers from the Member states).
In a matter-of–fact manner, she mentioned the peace talks in Israel, piracy talks in Somalia, trade in China and nuclear proliferation in Iran, just a glimpse into some of the visits she’s been making over the last couple of weeks. The media has bickered over how influential the EU really is on the world stage, and yet Cathy was keen to assert that she is putting her “quiet diplomacy” to good use.
Questions returned frequently to the fluid nature of her job description. Asked whether she saw herself as a leader of 27 member states, a mediator between the 27 member states, or as being led by the 27, she enthusiastically replied it was a combination of all three. To claims that her vague role with enormous expectations was in fact impossible, she answered that it would only be impossible if she didn’t prioritise.
As her finale, Cathy, spoke of Henry Kissinger’s question “Who do I call to get Europe?” and joked that now at least Europe has “a number”- although when connected, callers will be asked “Please press one for the French opinion, press two for the German opinion…”
Cathy believes that her calm and diplomatic “one voice” for Europe makes good progress towards answering Kissenger’s question but, post-Lisbon, the EU still has a long way to go to reach a definitive answer.