Presenting the New EU Diplomatic Service

„Let me start with a confession: The European Union's critics are sometimes right. The EU can be too slow, too cumbersome and too bureaucratic. I want to help to put that right in the way the EU works with the rest of the world. Our project has an ungainly name, the European External Action Service (EAS), but a bold and simple purpose: to give the EU a stronger voice around the world, and greater impact on the ground.

In my first six months as the EU's high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, I have seen for myself what the EU can do when we pull together: In Gaza where EU-funded schools are giving an education and dignity to hundreds of girls and boys, and where we are ready to do more to help end the blockade; in Haiti where we are giving shelter to the homeless and helping the government with its strategy for long-term reconstruction; in the Balkans where we are promoting political and economic reforms and preparing the region's countries to join the EU; and in East Africa where we our naval operation is deterring and capturing pirates at sea while our teams are working on-shore to help bring stability to Somalia and development to the region.

We do a lot to promote security, to protect the vulnerable, and to root out poverty. But too much depends on ad-hoc arrangements and the creativity of individuals. We achieve comprehensive strategies despite our structures, not because of them.”