To beef up its credibility in world politics the EU needs to speak with one voice and be represented by one face, that of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Baroness Catherine Ashton.

How it works: The EU and external relations

Hello. My name is Jean-Pierre Petit.   I'm from the Paris region in France.

I have a question: what powers does the   EU have in international negotiations?

European Council press conference   in October 2009:

Member States have reached   a common position

for the Copenhagen climate   change conference.

But does the EU always   speak with one voice?

In matters of international trade   the Commission represents the Union.

The Trade Commissioner has a mandate   from the Member States

to defend European interests   in the WTO, for example.

The big states go on   defending their own interests.

In the fight against climate change, the   EP adopted the energy-climate package

in December 2008,   after amending it first.

This is the co-decision procedure   between the EP and the Council.

The EP's role has been strong vis à vis   Dimas, the Environment Commissioner,

but it's been less visible   in the international arena.

Here it's the Commission   that takes the lead.

But let's stress the fact that the EU itself   is weak in international relations.

This credibility deficit has two reasons:

the difficulty of speaking with one voice,   and the lack of a face for the Union.

The Lisbon Treaty helps to counter this.

It merges two posts: the spokesperson   for the EU's external policies,

and the External Relations   Commissioner.

These two posts disappeared   to make way for

the High Representative of the Union   for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Catherine Ashton, who was Trade   Commissioner during the last term,

will be the face of the Union   to the outside world.