On 6 May the European Parliament presented a draft report on the Common Foreign and Security Policy which calls for greater input from the Parliament into the establishment of a 'European External Action Service'(EEAS). The 'European External Action Service' (EEAS) would support the future Minister of the Union for Foreign Affairs – a position created under the Lisbon Treaty and combining the roles and functions of the current High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Commissioner for External Relations. 

In the report the European Parliament asserts its position highlighting that the future office of High Representative/Vice-President of the Commission will draw its legitimacy directly from the Parliament. It also stresses the need for "transparency and democratic input" into the process of setting up the planned European External Action Service, and calls for a mechanism to be set up to provide confidential information to select Foreign Affairs Committee Members. 

Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and author of the draft report, acknowledged the secrecy of the preparations saying "the work is ongoing, but the proposals will be made public when the whole thing is ripe". 

He admitted that many questions remain unanswered regarding the interaction between the Council, the Commission and member states’ staff, the role of the European Parliament in the process and the formal title of the heads of the missions as well as the formal title of the delegations. 

He expressed his wish to see greater involvement from the Parliament in the process saying "we expect to be involved in shaping these decisions ex ante, and not only post factum.", viewing the creation of a diplomatic service as an opportunity for the Parliament to increase its democratic legitimacy. 

Preparations for the establishment of an EU diplomatic service are presently underway in the Council and the Commission and will be on the agenda at the Brussels EU summit on June 19-20 provided that the referendum is ratified in Ireland. 

The EU diplomatic service would complement rather than replace bilateral diplomacy. However, some politicians still fear that the initiative may fuel critics’ accusations that the Lisbon Treaty will transform the EU into a super-state.