Address to the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control on the discharge of the 2024 EEAS budget

Dear Members of the CONT Committee,

Ms Gáll-Pelcz,

It is good to be here for the discussion of the 2024 discharge of the EEAS budget.

When I came here a year ago, not only was it my first week in the office, I was also defending a budget that I had neither approved nor spent or had anything to do with. But it was even then for me important to give you my views from the start on how I want to work with the European Parliament.

Back then I committed to cooperation, transparency, and regular dialogue with the European Parliament. My commitment has not changed. And I want to thank you for the constructive way in which our cooperation has continued since then.

I also want to thank the European Court of Auditors for the presentation of the 2024 annual report.

The Court of Auditors’ Work is valuable to the External Action Service, because your findings and recommendations help us strengthen:

• Our internal governance;
• Our controls;
• and our operational management across 145 Delegations and offices.

It is good to see that the European Court of Auditors has again concluded that spending under the European Public Administration chapter — including the External Action Service — was free from material error.

This confirms the quality and professionalism of our financial management. It also is down to the work of our staff — both at   Headquarters and in our Delegations.

Despite inflation, currency volatility, and rising security costs, the financial error rate in 2024 remained extremely low at 0.03%. Again, the External Action Service demonstrates that we manage public funds responsibly.

The External Action Service has also continued to strengthen integrity and accountability.

For instance:

• The updated Anti-Fraud Strategy is now fully in place. This includes prevention, training, and stronger cooperation with OLAF.
• It also includes the first working arrangement signed with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
• Work advanced on a future EEAS Whistleblowing Framework. I want to see this in place in the near future. I know this responds to a long-time call from the European Parliament.
• And we are analysing how to improve transparency further. We want to do this in a way that reflects our specific diplomatic mandate, especially regarding external engagement and representation.

Now on the budget itself.

In 2024, the EEAS delivered more with essentially the same means as the previous year.

With 880 million euros:

• The External Action Service administrative budget covered the work of around 2500 colleagues in Headquarters, and close to 2800 in our 145 EU Delegations.

But it also must be noted that the duty of care we have for 8000 people. Because people working for the Commission but stationed in our Delegations are also under our obligation when it comes to security on the ground.

This 880 million euro also covered all related costs such as buildings, IT and security.

Salaries and buildings continued to represent roughly 80% of the total budget. This limits flexibility for the remaining 20%. It requires constant trade-offs, often between equally essential needs: security upgrades, staff missions, IT resilience, and operational engagement.

Postponing critical building maintenance, delaying IT upgrades and turning over staff in Delegations may be a savings strategy. But it is one that makes us vulnerable. And I don’t need to explain to you how security threats have increased:

• We have more and more examples where Delegations were damaged by bombs falling close by or where our staff were confined: think about Ukraine, Libya, or Syria.
• Elsewhere, demonstrations and fuel crises were major challenges. This was the case recently in Tanzania and Mali.
• At the same time, our Delegations also always help our Member States.

You will all agree with me that under-financing diplomacy – especially today – carries not only physical risks but also strategic risks. We cannot be expected to uphold Europe’s role in the world with decreasing real resources.

Here I want thank the Parliament for your support during the 2025 budget negotiations. The 2025 voted budget is 932.5 million euros. This includes the additional 10 million euros for the security of our Delegations. This is down to your support. So an extra thank you to the Parliament here. Without this money, some of our duty-of-care obligations would have been impossible to meet.

Dear Members,

Every day we see that European Foreign policy is a central pillar of our work as a Union. A new world order is being shaped. And having the means to operate effectively is how the EU remains relevant, adds value and actually exercises an impact on how the world is being shaped.

We do this through:

• Our geographic outreach;
• Our expert staff on the ground;
• and our capacity to defend Europe’s voice in the world against disinformation.

First, on our geographic reach.

Despite financial constraints, we have not and will not close any EU Delegations. I know you appreciate our presence on the ground and the asset this represents for EU interests. Some of you have recently visited third countries, for electoral observation missions for example.

Our geographic reach is also part of our geopolitical power. But what we do on the ground has to reflect our priorities as a Union. EU Delegations are our eyes, our ears on the ground, following all aspects of our EU policy, from aid to economic security, trade, access to Critical Raw Materials, migration, security, research. That is why we are modernising the network and making it fit for our strategic needs and interests.

Some Delegations are being reinforced where geopolitical stakes are highest or where it is cost-efficient to regionalise functions. This is the case in Barbados, Fiji, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa.

Others are being streamlined to become Diplomatic Presence Delegations. They maintain the European Union flag, the Ambassador, and core representation. In the limited budget context, we still need to see whether the EU flag can be raised in other places where it would be relevant.

We are also increasing co-location with the Member States and like-minded partners. This saves taxpayers’ money. In 2024, eight new co-location agreements were signed. This brings us to 137 agreements in 80 Delegations – 45 with Member States and partner countries and 92 with EU institutions and agencies like the European Parliament and the EIB.

You are well aware that we have seconded European Parliament staff in some delegations, very recently in Ukraine and Moldova, as well as Jakarta, Addis Ababa, Panama and New York.

We also share the space with the European Parliament Liaison Offices in major Delegations in London and Washington.

We continue to promote collaborative office spaces, where feasible. We have done this for example in the Delegations to Congo DRC, Kuwait, The Gambia, Jordan for Yemen colleagues and Rome.

Second, with regards to our staff.

We have to use our budget to support equality objectives, not least because it makes us more effective.

While there is still some way to go, we continued to improve geographical balance. Representation from all Member States is steadily increasing, and it’s about time! It has been twenty years since the country I know best joined the European Union. All 27 nationalities are represented now at the management level.

We continued to promote gender equality. Women now represent nearly half of EEAS staff and close to 40% of management.

But barriers at senior levels remain. Only 30% of applicants for Heads of Delegation positions in 2026 are women. This is clearly not good enough.

We must address these barriers together, including with the Member States, who represent a large share of high-level candidates.

We also continued to strengthen support for staff well-being and psychological support, especially for colleagues posted in high-risk environments and returning from difficult missions.

For example:

• We introduced resilience training to help colleagues to manage stress and adapt in difficult environments.
• Health assessments were improved to ensure everyone is physically and psychologically prepared before new postings.
• Regional Security Officers received trauma management training to better support staff in crisis situations.
• We also increased mental health awareness through Mental Health First Aid training.

I am determined that the EEAS be a service where people feel protected, valued, and respected wherever they are in the world.

I have now met staff in almost 40 countries. And they are Europe’s real diplomatic power. They are the first point of contact with Europe for places we fly the EU flag. We have to invest in our staff across the world.

And on the third point, foreign information manipulation and interference or ‘FIMI’.

The European Union and our democracies are clearly under attack. We see campaigns from Russia, China, and other malicious actors designed to polarise our citizens. It undermines the positive foreign policy work we are doing in every other area, and the real impact of our budget on the ground.

This undermines trust in institutions within the European Union and directed towards our partners, especially candidate countries and beyond.

We see attempts to weaken public support for Ukraine, voices discrediting our role in the Middle East and outright interference in European democratic processes like in Moldova.

The work of the EEAS and the EU Delegations on FIMI is part of the European Democracy Shield and will shape our EU response to protect the ingredients of our democracies: free media, fact-based debate and fair elections

That is why the EEAS has and will continue to:

• Strengthen its analytical capacity;
• Expand cooperation with Member States;
• and step up work to detect, expose and counter disinformation.

Dear Members,

As we move forward toward the 2026 budget cycle, I want to thank you again on your engagement. Your support ensures the EEAS has the means to deliver for foreign policy that we are mandated to conduct.

The EEAS needs a stable, predictable budgetary trajectory to:

• maintain our operational presence in 145 Delegations;
• ensure the security of our staff;
• and allow our diplomats to represent Europe credibly.

I trust that we have the support of the European Parliament to secure the means for us to do this.

Doing more with less cannot mean asking our people to simply work harder and longer. We have to work differently. This is why we launched a simplification exercise across the External Action Service.

Navigating work in the EU institutions is an art in itself. The time required to prepare a single report—using multiple IT systems, following complex internal procedures, and ensuring full legal compliance—takes staff away from their core mission: diplomacy.

That is why we are:

• Reducing duplication between Headquarters and Delegations;
• Streamlining reporting and coordination;
• And clarifying who decides what and at what level.

To briefly conclude, as Paul-Henri Spaak once said, there are only two types of countries in Europe: small countries and those countries who haven’t realised they are small countries yet. In other words, European voices are often only heard when we are a chorus and sing together. The EEAS does this every day, working on behalf of all Member States.   

But to do our work, representing the European Union, we need:

• a secure and operational Delegations network;
• a stable diplomatic service with the right people in the right places;
• and a budget to match the EU’s political ambitions.

The European Parliament is an essential partner in this effort. Your support for the EEAS 2025 budget was decisive.

Your role was equally decisive for the 2026 budget and the next multiannual framework. The Commission proposal for Global Europe is ambitious and will help us remain a reliable and credible partner that is guided by European Union interests and values.

I really hope the outcome will keep this spirit. A strong budget will ensure Europe can act as a geopolitical power in terms of these very turbulent times in the world.

Thank you.