Jumping over Ratification? Javier Solana is testing the waters!

The Lisbon Treaty, when ratified, will give Javier Solana most, if not all, of the powerful Foreign Minister powers he was to have received under the 2005 Holland/France rejected European Constitution. As things presently stand, only Irish citizens can look forward to having their democratic say about it. Breaking news from Telegraph.Co.UK, a leading British newspaper, is that Javier Solana is not waiting to put those powers, which include the establishment of his own diplomatic corps in effect. The Telegraph has been conducting a campaign to give British citizens a referendum on these expanded European Union powers over their lives.

It now appears that Dr. Solana and company are not waiting for treaty ratification to put their new anticipated powers into effect. He has appointed a European Union Ambassador to Africa. The newly named ambassador is Belgium's Koen Vervaeke. He will, per The Telegraph, represent both the Commission of the European Union and its 27 member nations.

Per The Telegraph:

The position is part of a diplomatic corps created under the treaty signed by Gordon Brown in Lisbon last week amid claims by Eurosceptics of a betrayal of Britain's national interests. Brussels chiefs have pressed ahead with Mr. Vervaeke's appointment before any countries have begun ratifying the treaty, which is scheduled to come into effect in 2009.

The Telegraph states the obvious. This is obviously a ploy to "test the waters."

Dr Charles Tannock, a Conservative Euro-MP and the party's foreign affairs spokesman at the European Parliament, said: "By appointing this man to Africa they are obviously testing the waters. This is the way things will work in the future. But until the treaty is ratified they have no mandate to set up anything like an EU diplomatic corps."

And what about the "chain of command" for the good Belgian ambassador? Quoting again from the important Telegraph article:

Under the treaty, there will be a powerful EU foreign minister, or "high representative", who will also service member states and the commission, deriving his power from what Brussels officials call a "double hat" arrangement. . . . Javier Solana, the Spaniard who heads the EU's fledgling foreign office, is tipped for the job, which will involve taking on more than 100 existing commission delegations around the world and turning them into a corps of diplomats.

Stay tuned!