Guy VERHOFSTADT, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament and one of Parliament's chief negotiators, reacting today to remarks made by Pierre Lellouche, the French Secretary of State, on the European External Action Service warned:

"The agreement reached last week in Madrid by all parties involved in the establishment of the framework for Europe's new diplomatic service was arrived at after much effort and hard negotiation."

"Parliament's political groups have signalled their broad backing for the terms of the deal which would preserve the essential Community interest of the new service created by the Lisbon Treaty whilst drawing on expertise from the European Commission and national administrations."
 

"It would be most unfortunate now if the French Government or any of its ministers were to attempt to undermine the delicate consensus achieved or rewrite the terms of the agreement. Whilst the EAS, once operational, will inevitably have to reflect a consensus amongst Member States it is precisely the Community institutions (especially the Commission and Parliament) who are in a position to guarantee the common interest."

For more information, please contact:

Neil Corlett: +32-2-284 20 77 or +32-478-78 22 84

e-mail: neil.corlett@europarl.europa.eu