French officials have suggested an overhaul of the EU's diplomatic service that could include boosting the role for foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in a bid to improve the bloc's response to crises, an internal paper showed on Thursday.
The paper reflects a view among EU officials and diplomats that the bloc was too slow and disjointed as it tried to react to the war in Gaza and other emergencies, amid divisions between its institutions, leaders and 27 member governments.
Diplomats say the overlapping roles of the European Commission, the bloc's longstanding executive currently headed by Ursula von der Leyen, and the separate EU External Action Service, a diplomatic body set up in 2011 and led by Kallas, are one source of dysfunction.
The paper sets out three options for a revamp — putting all EU foreign policy under the Commission, shifting the diplomatic service's functions to the EU Council, which represents member countries, and a strengthening of Kallas's role as part of a broader institutional rejig.
Under the third option, Kallas would gain more power inside the Commission - becoming its "first executive vice president" and the boss of commissioners and departments responsible for a wide range of policies such as external relations, trade and economic development.
The paper, seen by Reuters, said this would mean a "reinforcement" of Kallas' role in the Commission, where she currently serves as one of six executive vice presidents and has to share oversight of multiple policy areas.
The paper reflects a view among EU officials and diplomats that the bloc was too slow and disjointed as it tried to react to the war in Gaza and other emergencies, amid divisions between its institutions, leaders and 27 member governments.
Diplomats say the overlapping roles of the European Commission, the bloc's longstanding executive currently headed by Ursula von der Leyen, and the separate EU External Action Service, a diplomatic body set up in 2011 and led by Kallas, are one source of dysfunction.
The paper sets out three options for a revamp — putting all EU foreign policy under the Commission, shifting the diplomatic service's functions to the EU Council, which represents member countries, and a strengthening of Kallas's role as part of a broader institutional rejig.
Under the third option, Kallas would gain more power inside the Commission - becoming its "first executive vice president" and the boss of commissioners and departments responsible for a wide range of policies such as external relations, trade and economic development.
The paper, seen by Reuters, said this would mean a "reinforcement" of Kallas' role in the Commission, where she currently serves as one of six executive vice presidents and has to share oversight of multiple policy areas.
