14. Welcomes the establishment of an audit committee made up of three EESC Members, assisted by an external auditor, whose tasks include, among others, the verification of the independence of the internal auditor and the assessment of actions taken in response to the recommendations contained in the internal audit reports;

In a strengthened External Service, our Delegations will be better able to represent Europe's political and economic interests, in close co-ordination with our Member States' missions.

Finally, special attention must be paid, as the report notes, to arrangements governing relations between the external service and delegations and the European Parliament, both as regards having systemised contacts, with reports and appearances by the heads of the delegations in Parliament and its competent committees, and as regards some of the delegations taking on the job of providing assistance in connection with visits and missions by members of the European Parliament to third countries.

Moreover, following the recommendation of the European Parliament, the Commission will ensure that particular attention is paid to determining which non-audit services offered by auditing firms do or do not risk impairing auditor independence.

COMMUNITY EXTERNAL SHIPPING RELATIONS - COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS "THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, CONSIDERING the exchange of views it held on the European Community's external relations in the field of maritime transport; CONSIDERING the importance of maritime transport in economic and trade relations between the European Community and third countries; REQUESTS the Commission to provide the Council as soon as possible with a communication on maritime relations with third countries, including the general guidelines it suggests in this area, and on priority actions to be undertaken, including in international fora; the Council records it ...[+++]s intention to hold detailed discussions on the basis of such communication as soon as it receives it; REQUESTS the Commission to submit to the Council as soon as possible a report on the Community action it proposes with regard to external relations with the countries of Western and Central Africa on maritime matters, taking into account the measures already taken, in particular the fact-finding mission entrusted to it by the Council at its meeting on 29 and 30 November 1993, and recent developments in this sector; EMPHASIZES the importance for the maritime policy of the Community and its Member States of the discussions in the Negotiating Group on Maritime Transport Services (NGMTS) currently taking place in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the need to ensure consistency between these negotiations and Community policy guidelines in this sector in accordance with the principle of free and fair competition".

We contribute heavily, coordinated through my area, to the head of mission training manuals that go out every year or so to foreign service officers, including the missions abroad and for the heads of mission.