Westminster blog

Very little to disagree with in William Hague’s keynote foreign policy speech. That may be the problem.

One of the most striking passages related to increasing Britain’s clout in Europe:

“It is mystifying to us that the previous Government failed to give due weight to the exercise of British influence in the EU. They neglected to ensure that sufficient numbers of bright British officials entered EU institutions, and so we now face a generation gap developing in the British presence in parts of the EU

Since 2007, the number of British officials at Director level in the European Commission has fallen by a third and we have 205 fewer British officials in the Commission overall. The UK represents 12 per cent of the EU population. Despite that, at entry-level policy grades in the Commission, the UK represents just 1.8 per cent of the staff, well under the level of other major EU member states.

As a new Government we are determined to put this right.”

From this we can lay down four simple tests of whether Hague is sticking to his word:

1) Britain will reverse cuts and double funding for scholarships to the College of Europe. It has been the training ground for Eurocrats such as Nick Clegg and Miriam González Durántez and remains one of the main routes for Brits to enter the Commission. Labour wanted to cut funding for 24 scholarships, but part reversed the decision and just reduced the number of places. Hague will clearly be confident of convincing Vince Cable to double the number of scholarships.

2) Britain will double the number of “seconded experts” to the Commission. Either extra funding from across Whitehall will be provided or it will hit other UK operations. Perhaps the only way of raising representation quickly. But of limited value because the “experts” are not allowed to have any middle-management responsibility.

3) Funding for the European diplomatic network will increase. Britain will maintain its full network of embassies across Europe and resist any pressure to further cut numbers. The shift in Foreign Office resources from Europe to Asia will stop.

4) UK nationals will take up 12 per cent of positions in new EU External Action Service. It will be vital that Britain is fully represented in Europe’s new diplomatic corps. There are around 1,100 so Britain should have 132 places just to “punch at its weight”, in Hague’s words. The Treasury and Foreign Office will pay for any secondments.