Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake Ashton chaired a meeting of the foreign relations , development and environment DGs and experts from the Council and the Situation Centre ( the EU intelligence-gathering agency ) . There they agreed on € 3 million in aid , to look for further financial assistance , to send personnel to assess the situation and to co-ordinate pledges from member states . Ashton then chaired a meeting of member states ' ambassadors and acted as a general co-ordinator ; for example contacts from the UN went via Ashton . Although she refused to describe it as the first act of the external action service , Ashton did emphasise that it was the first time that such a co-ordination between all the various EU foreign policy actors had been accomplished before . Spain , which held the rotating Council presidency that would have taken charge before the Lisbon Treaty , took a back seat though assisted , for example by offering use of the Spanish base in Panama . However , the majority of aid relief was dealt with bilaterally between Haiti and individual member states and Ashton was criticised afterward for being one of the few foreign representatives not to travel to Haiti personally . Despite EU ministers then agreeing to deploy European gendarmes , criticism was levied at Ashton for failing to improve the EU 's international profile during the crisis . Ashton replied stating that " There 's been a recognition from the people of Haiti , the US , the UN and others of the extremely important role the EU has played . On the main issue , we should ask , have we tried to save lives , to support the people of Haiti ? Yes we have . " Criticism continued to mount , including complaints that she skipped a defence meeting to attend the inauguration of Ukraine 's Prime Minister alleged bias towards British officials , lack of language skills and risking a UK-French feud over creating an EU military planning headquarters . She has been defended by some , including Commissioner Günther Oettinger , on the ground that she has had to take on a job that combines three previous jobs and is working on establishing the EEAS so she is unable to take on everything at once , nor please everyone . Despite early Spanish assistance during 2010 , Ashton did find herself competing with the Spanish foreign minister on who was going to be speaking for the EU and the need to find consensus between the member states and institutions pushed back the expected operational date of the EEAS from spring 2010 to December 2010 . In contrast to the Spanish position , in 2011 Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski said he would act as Ashton 's " loyal deputy "
2010 Haiti earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy