§ Mr. CashTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the functions and treaty base of the Secretary General/High Representative of the Council, and the extent to which his functions are autonomous of national Governments of the member states. [138217]
§ Mr. VazThe role and functions of the Secretary General/High Representative are set out in Article 207 of the Treaty establishing the European Community and in Articles 18 and 26 of the Treaty on European Union. Article 26 in particular provides that
The Secretary-General of the Council, High Representative for the common foreign and security policy, shall assist the Council in matters coming within the scope of the common foreign and security policy, in particular through contributing to the formulation, preparation and implementation of policy decisions, and, when appropriate and acting on behalf of the Council at the request of the Presidency, through conducting political dialogue with third parties.It is clear from these provisions that the Secretary General/High Representative's role is to assist the Council, which remains the primary EU decision-making body for matters of external policy. It follows that the Secretary General/High Representative is answerable to the Council for all his actions in the name of the EU.