The High Representative is appointed by the
European Council acting by qualified majority. However, in order to take up their role in the commission, in particular as a vice-president, the High Representative has to appear before Parliament for questioning and then be subject to Parliament's vote of approval on the proposed Commission. The basic monthly salary of the High Representative is fixed at 130% (higher than a vice-president but less than the Commission President) of the highest grade of the
EU civil service (grade 16, step 3), which works out at €23,006.98. There are other allowances on top of that as all other conditions of employment for the High Representative are aligned to that of the commission. In December 2003 Solana released the
European Security Strategy, which sets out the main priorities and identifies the main threats to the security of the EU, including terrorism. On 25 March 2004, Solana appointed
Gijs de Vries as the anti-terrorist co-ordinator for the CFSP, and outlined de Vries's duties as being to streamline, organise and co-ordinate the EU's fight against terrorism. He has negotiated numerous Treaties of Association between the European Union and various Middle Eastern and Latin American countries, including Bolivia and Colombia. Solana played a pivotal role in unifying the remainder of the former Yugoslavian federation. He proposed that Montenegro form a union with Serbia instead of having full independence, stating that this was done to avoid a
domino effect that might proceed from demands for independence by Kosovo and
Vojvodina. Local media sarcastically named the new country "Solania". On 21 January 2002, Solana said that the detainees at
Guantanamo Bay should be treated as
prisoners of war under the
Geneva Convention. The EU has stated that it hopes to avoid another war like the
Iraqi invasion through this and future negotiations, and Solana has said the most difficult moments of his job were when the United Kingdom and France, the two permanent EU
Security Council members, were in
disagreement. The so-called
Vilnius letter, a declaration of support by eastern European countries for the United States' aim of régime change in Iraq, and
the letter of the eight, a similar letter from the UK, Italy, and six second-tier countries, are generally seen as a low-water mark of the
CFSP. Solana operated as a "quiet diplomat", and found himself frequently pushed to the side in negotiations and sent on missions known to be impossible. Solana has played an important role working toward a resolution to the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and continues to be a primary architect of the "
Road map for Peace", along with the UN, Russia, and the United States in the
Quartet on the Middle East. On 22 July 2004, he met
Ariel Sharon in Israel. Sharon had originally refused to meet him, but eventually accepted that the EU was involved in the Road Map. Solana criticised Israel for obstructing the
Palestinian presidential election of 9 January 2005, but then met Sharon again on 13 January. In November 2004 he assisted the United Kingdom, France and Germany in negotiating a nuclear material enrichment freeze with Iran. In the same month he was involved in mediating between the two presidential candidates in the
post-election developments in Ukraine, and on 21 January 2005 he invited Ukraine's new President
Viktor Yushchenko to discuss future EU membership.
Catherine Ashton (2009–2014) in 2009 Although Solana was originally selected to be the first Foreign Minister, the delays in introducing the post meant that after 10 years of service he stood aside for a new candidate. After numerous candidates were put forward, EU leaders agreed on
Catherine Ashton from the United Kingdom as the first merged High Representative. Ashton was previously the
European Commissioner for Trade and otherwise had no foreign affairs experience. Ashton unexpectedly came to the top of the shortlist when she was nominated unanimously by the centre-left leaders who claimed the post. Ashton was confirmed by the European Parliament before she took up the post. In the same European Council meeting,
Pierre de Boissieu was appointed
Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, showing that the High Representative and the Secretary-General will no longer be the same person. In October 2010 most major appointments to the
EEAS were made, including
Pierre Vimont (France) as Secretary General, Helga Schmid (Germany) and
Maciej Popowski (Poland) as Deputy Secretaries General and
David O'Sullivan (Ireland) as chief operating officer. Slowly other staff and ambassadors were appointed in cycles. Ashton formally launched the EEAS on 1 December 2010 at a low key event where she outlined her key priorities as relations with the US and China, climate change, poverty eradication, crisis management and counter-terrorism. Following the
2010 Haiti earthquake, Ashton chaired a meeting of the foreign relations, development and environment DGs and experts from the Council and the
Situation Centre (the EU intelligence-gathering agency). There they agreed on €3 million in aid, to look for further financial assistance, to send personnel to assess the situation and to co-ordinate pledges from member states. Ashton then chaired a meeting of member states' ambassadors and acted as a general co-ordinator; for example contacts from the UN went via Ashton. Although she refused to describe it as the first act of the external action service, Ashton did emphasise that it was the first time that such a co-ordination between all the various EU foreign policy actors had been accomplished before. Spain, which held the rotating Council presidency that would have taken charge before the Treaty of Lisbon, took a back seat though assisted, for example by offering use of the Spanish base in Panama. However, the majority of aid relief was dealt with bilaterally between Haiti and individual member states and Ashton was criticised afterward for being one of the few foreign representatives not to travel to Haiti personally. Despite EU ministers then agreeing to deploy
European gendarmes, criticism was levied at Ashton for failing to improve the EU's international profile during the crisis. Ashton responded thus: "There's been a recognition from the people of Haiti, the US, the UN and others of the extremely important role the EU has played. On the main issue, we should ask, have we tried to save lives, to support the people of Haiti? Yes we have." (far right) with the rest of the
Quartet on the Middle East (2010) Criticism continued to mount, including complaints that she skipped a defence meeting to attend the inauguration of
Ukraine's Prime Minister alleged bias towards British officials, lack of language skills and risking a UK-French feud over creating an EU military planning headquarters. She has been defended by some, including Commissioner
Günther Oettinger, on the ground that she has had to take on a job that combines three previous jobs and is working on establishing the EEAS so she is unable to take on everything at once, nor please everyone. and the need to find consensus between the member states and institutions pushed back the expected operational date of the EEAS from spring 2010 to December 2010. In contrast to the Spanish position, in 2011 Polish foreign minister
Radek Sikorski said he would act as Ashton's "loyal deputy". Secretary General Pierre Vimont joined those defending Ashton from criticism; praising her work in opening the EEAS office in
Benghazi, Libya as making the EEAS very popular in Libya. He also supported her over Syria and has asked her to stand for a second term. Polish Minister for Europe,
Mikołaj Dowgielewicz, also stated criticism against Ashton was "a lot of hot air" and that "she has an impossible job to do and she is doing it well. At the end of her time in office, people will be more positive about what she has done. She will leave a real legacy." However, Former European Commission adviser Dr Fraser Cameron argued that "the criticism one hears of Ashton is pretty strong and it will be difficult to overcome the bad press she has. It represents a problem for the EEAS, when it comes to public diplomacy, and reflects the system we have for choosing leaders. Too often, the EEAS is waiting until the last member state signs up to the position; they could set out a view much earlier. When you look at places like Egypt – Cathy has been five times, but people are still not quite sure what the EEAS does or who speaks for Europe. The glass is less than half full. I think the criticism of Ashton is down to style and morale in the EEAS is not as good as it should be." which led to an interim agreement on 24 November 2013, and the
Joint Plan of Action. The tone of public comment on Aston's performance in office was subsequently to be influenced especially by her contributions to negotiations over Kosovo and the normalisation of its relationship with Serbia, and over Iran over its nuclear program. In October 2013,
Der Spiegel wrote of her: But now the 57-year-old baroness is suddenly at the center of world diplomacy. And whenever she is mentioned, she earns praise for her hard-nosed negotiating skills, her stamina and her diplomatic talents. It is said that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has much faith in her. "She is discrete and perceptive, but also tenacious. That makes her an ideal negotiator", says Alexander Graf Lamsdorff, the head of Germany's business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP) in the European Parliament and a member of its Committee on Foreign Affairs. After the November 2013 negotiation of an interim agreement with Iran over its nuclear program,. the
Financial Times wrote that Ashton was "no longer the diplomatic dilettante". A senior French diplomat was quoted as saying, "I tip my hat to her.... She truly played a decisive role". The report continued that, after initially insisting on negotiating only with other foreign ministers, by the latter stages of the negotiations the Iranian foreign minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif "now... wanted to deal only with Lady Ashton". Said a western diplomat, "That the others agreed to this was significant. For China and Russia to be outside while she was in the room negotiating details was quite remarkable".
Federica Mogherini (2014–2019) in 2016 In July 2014, given the large number of Italian MEPs belonging to the
S&D group following the
2014 election, the
European Council considered her as a candidate for the position of High Representative, in
Jean-Claude Juncker's new
European Commission. On 13 July 2014, the
Financial Times among other European newspapers reported that her nomination proposal had been opposed by some eastern European countries, including Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland, where her stance towards Russia concerning the
Russo-Ukrainian war was considered to be too soft. Nonetheless, on 2 August 2014, Italian Prime Minister
Matteo Renzi formally nominated her by letter to EC President-elect
Jean-Claude Juncker, as Italy's official candidate for EU Commissioner. On 30 August, Europe's socialist Prime Ministers met prior to the convening of the
European Council, at which she received the approval of the
Party of European Socialists. On the same day the President
Herman Van Rompuy announced that the European Council had decided to appoint the Italian Minister as its new High Representative, effective from 1 November 2014. At her first press conference, she declared that her efforts would be devoted to establishing discussions between Russia and Ukraine to solve the crisis between the two countries. In 2015, Mogherini won praise for her role in negotiating the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an international agreement on the
nuclear program of Iran, and along with Iranian Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif was the one to announce the accord to the world. In February 2015, the President of the European Commission
Jean-Claude Juncker appointed
Michel Barnier, the former EU Internal Market Commissioner, as his special advisor on defence and security. Juncker stated that Barnier's role will be to advise the European Commission and particularly the EUHRVP
Federica Mogherini on important defence and security issues.
Josep Borrell Fontelles (2019–2024) in 2021 In 2020, EU Development Ministers have launched the Team Europe aid package to support partner countries to address the pandemic and its economic consequences by providing an overall financial support of over €20 billion. "In this global pandemic, international solidarity is not just a matter of staying true to our values", Josep Borrell Fontelles, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said. "It is also about making sure that we win the fight against the virus together." "Unless the virus is defeated everywhere, it is not defeated. A global pandemic can only be solved globally, with united, swift and decisive global action, as we are presenting it today", Borrell Fontelles added. With the development of the
Gaza war, Borrell has been repeatedly critical of Israel actions, calling the country's siege of Gaza illegal and dismissing its evacuation orders as unrealistic. As European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, he condemned the "barbaric and terrorist attack" by
Hamas on Israel which started the 2023
Gaza war. On 10 October 2023, Borrell accused Israel of breaking international law by imposing a
total blockade of the Gaza Strip. On 3 January 2024, he condemned the comments of the Israeli ministers
Itamar Ben-Gvir and
Bezalel Smotrich, writing, "Forced displacements are strictly prohibited as a grave violation of [international humanitarian law] & words matter." On 29 January 2024,
Borrell told
UN Secretary-General António Guterres that funding toward
UNRWA has not been suspended and the EU will determine funding decisions after the investigation. Borrell stated, "We shouldn’t let allegations cloud UNRWA’s indispensable and great work." In March 2024, Borrell said Israel's depriving food from Palestinians was a serious violation of international humanitarian law, and described the
Al-Rashid humanitarian aid incident as "totally unacceptable carnage". Following the
International Court of Justice advisory opinion on Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, Borrell stated that international law is 'binding', and called for the EU foreign ministers "to move on from words to deeds" regarding Israel's failure to comply with international legality in Gaza and the West Bank.
Kaja Kallas (2024–present) Ministerial Meeting in Munich On 1 December 2024, her first day in office as High Representative, Kallas visited Ukraine along with
European Council President Antonio Costa and Enlargement Commissioner
Marta Kos, expressing strong support for a Ukrainian victory by stating that "the European Union wants Ukraine to win this war". The trip was criticized by Slovak
Prime Minister Robert Fico, who stated, without further elaboration, that Kallas and Costa made statements not agreed upon by EU bodies. On the same day, Kallas also warned the
Georgian government against using violence to suppress
ongoing protests over the ruling party's decision to postpone
EU accession talks, threatening sanctions. ==Treaty basis==