The nomination of Catherine Ashton as EU High Representative for foreign policy came as a surprise to many. I hear here and there what you always hear when a woman gets a high-level position, no matter how competent she might be or not: “Ashton has been nominated only because she is a woman. She doesn’t have what it takes for the job”. I think both accusations are wrong.
Lady Ashton was not selected only because she is a woman.
In a blogpost on Le Taurillon, Fabien Cazenave says Ashton was elected because first she’s a woman, and then, because the British didn’t get the Council President job for Tony Blair, so the EU needed give them compensation with the High Representative job. I disagree. Ahston was nominated because:
- Firstly, it was agreed the job would go to a member of the PES family.
- Secondly, it was understood the High Representative would have more impact on the world stage if coming from a big country.
Of the largest EU countries, only Britain is led by a centre-left government. So the candidate logically had to come from there. David Miliband -the UK foreign minister- would have been an ideal candidate, especially as he is younger than most prominent politicians, but he did not want the job. Then Lady Ashton already works in Brussels as the EU’s trade commissioner, and finally yes indeed, she’s a woman of female gender. That is only a superfluous point in addition to the other ones listed above, that in my opinion have played a bigger role in this nomination.
Lady Ashton is competent for the job.
She has almost a ten-year experience in the British government holding various positions as junior minister, as well as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council. On top of that experience on the national scene, she’s held the position of EU trade commissioner for a year, a position that involves negotiating international trade agreements for the EU. On the national stage, I have never seen any man appointed as minister being criticised for a lack of background or skills in the portfolio they were to be in charge of. Whether you like it or not, competence doesn’t put people in power, but politics does. Why would that be different for the EU?
The unfair accusations that have been made against Lady Ashton reminded me of something I witnessed as a child and that had a big impact on me: the appointment of Edith Cresson as Prime Minister of France in 1991. She was the first –and so far the only- woman to hold the job and her appointment was considered as a very bold move by Mitterrand. The attacks she has been a victim of were completely out of proportion. Even if I were still a child, I could sense that the violence of the criticisms against her was triggered by the fact that she was a woman. That was 18 years ago. I do not feel we have made much progress as for the acceptance of women in power positions. So please, give Lady Ashton a break. She seems like a good person. Let her prove what she can do. You might just be surprised.
