What it means for EU, Bangladesh

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Dr Stefan Frowein
THE Lisbon Treaty, which the countries of the European Union (EU) signed nearly two years ago, finally entered into force on December 01, 2009. It will bring about major changes in the way the EU and its institutions work. The basic idea is to give a stronger foundation to the principles on which the EU acts: democracy, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for human dignity, and the principles of equality and solidarity.
Many of the practical changes concern issues which are to do with governance and rights within the EU itself, and which would therefore be of little or no interest to most people here in Bangladesh. But several of the changes have a practical impact on the EU's relations and cooperation with Bangladesh.
Twenty-seven countries are members of the EU. Of these, eight --Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom have embassies here in Dhaka. The European Commission, which is responsible for implementing the EU's common policies, also has a Delegation here with Dr Stefan Frowein as its ambassador. In line with the principle that the EU should have a common foreign and security policy, the nine ambassadors meet together on a regular basis to compare notes on their relations with Bangladesh and to coordinate EU actions.
Until now, the work on common foreign policy was organised through a rather confusing combination of the rotating presidency (currently held by Sweden), the 'High Representative' attached to the Council, and the European Commissioner for foreign affairs who was a member of the Commission. For those readers unfamiliar with the structure of the EU, both the Commission and council are both European institutions. However, the links between their respective staff have tended to be rather weak.
As a result of the Lisbon Treaty, our work here in Bangladesh is being strengthened by institutional reforms. A new 'High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy' now has responsibility for the EU's foreign policy. She is Catherine Ashton, a British economist who until now has been the EU's Trade Commissioner. Her position has institutional roots both in the Commission (where she is a Vice-President) and in the Council (where she will chair the top-level foreign affairs meeting). One of the first things she will do is to start setting up a 'European External Action Service,' a new diplomatic corps for the EU. This is to be staffed by a mixture of Commission and Council officials and by diplomats from the 27 EU countries.
On Tuesday the office has been re-named: instead of being the Delegation of the European Commission to Bangladesh, it is now the Delegation of the European Union. Moreover, all agreements/commitments between Bangladesh and the EC/EU are being assumed by the EU. The eight other embassies have not been changed by the Treaty: they are continuing to look after bilateral relations with Bangladesh, including some very important areas such as bilateral development assistance, investment protection, and immigration.
Looking to the longer term, the EU Delegation is likely to take over some consular functions from Member States' Embassies. This should begin with consular services for EU passport-holders in Bangladesh. This is not a change that could be made overnight, though my guess is that it may start to happen in the next year or two.
It's also possible that the EU Delegation could eventually take over responsibility from member states for issuing Schengen visas in Bangladesh. However, we are still a very long way from having the capacity to do that. So in the meantime if those people wishing to apply for visas should address themselves to the member states' embassy concerned!
(The writer is the Ambassador, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh)