New EU High Representative to meet Parliamentarians on 2 December. European Voice.
EU High Representative Ashton will face questions from MEPs about her suitability for the post on 2 December. She will attend – but she will not chair – the monthly meeting of the EU's 27 foreign ministers in Brussels on 7-8 December. Ashton will attend only the opening of a three-day meeting of trade ministers at the World Trade Organization in Geneva on 30 November. Mariann Fischer Boel, the European commissioner for agriculture, will represent the Commission on 1-2 December. The president of the European Commission, is expected to announce that Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the current European commissioner for external relations, will replace Ashton as the European commissioner for trade for the next two months, until the next Commission takes office. Barroso is also expected to say that Ferrero-Waldner will retain responsibility for the European neighbourhood policy and external assistance.