Foreign Ministers meet to discuss EU's image

EU Foreign Ministers are this weekend likely to set in train a major revamp of the Union's diplomacy.

Concerns that the Union is not punching its weight on the world stage are acknowledged in a report from the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Mr Javier Solana, which they will consider at their two-day informal meeting in this picturesque French town on the shore of Lac Leman.

The result is likely to be a major drive to co-ordinate strategically the Union and member-states' many external instruments, which are often inconsistent. These range from their 40,000 diplomatic staff to the billions in euros dispensed in anything from food aid to macroeconomic assistance to payments for fisheries rights.

The debate comes only a couple of months after the External Relations Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, pledged to speed up the €9 billion in outstanding EU commitments in aid.

Mr Solana's paper will argue for an enhanced role for the Council of Ministers in the EU's foreign missions, currently run by the Commission, a demand that may set him at odds with Mr Patten. But his call for increased co-ordination of diplomatic work in third world countries or international organisations is likely to be backed.

And there will be support for the idea of - for the first time - systematically cumulating and then publicising the aid given by the Union and the member-states collectively through the Commission, bilaterally between member-states and third countries, and through UN donations. Citing the Russian case, Mr Solana points out that perceptions of the EU role in supporting the country's transition are likely to be deeply underestimated by figures for Commission assistance alone.

A debate tomorrow morning will take up themes raised before the summer break by the German Foreign Minister, Mr Joschke Fischer, and the France's President Chirac on the long-term future structures of the Union.