Finnish foreign minister Alexander Stubb has drawn up quite a useful metaphor for Catherine Ashton in her job as EU foreign policy chief. She is akin to a football club manager. She has to deal with 27 foreign policy egos or players – “27 Ronaldos” and she has two very demanding managers – the European commission and council – and a set of picky and demanding “fans”  in the European Parliament.

Nevertheless, Stubb appears to have done the club manager rather a big favour by getting six Ronaldos together with her over the weekend for informal discussions on Europe’s foreign policy strategy. Alongside Ashton and Stubb, ministers from France, Sweden, Spain, Italy and Estonia were present. Turkey was invited to give a “rough assessment” of EU foreign policy. The German, Danish and Norwegian ministers were also invited but could not make it.

The whole exercise had an aura of real informality – the dress code was very casual, shoes were removed during discussions, chocolates were hand for sustenance and there were no note-takers or advisors. Ashton – presumably at the behest of sporty Stubb – even sledged to her first meeting with the press. A potentially perilous moment for the (symbolic) reputation of EU foreign policy. Spain’s Miguel Moratinos chided Stubb for sending him a text message that should have but did not rhyme, Italy’s Franco Frattini got a bottle of Finnish vodka as a birthday present, while Sweden’s Carl Bildt could be heard discussing the “incredible stupidity” of reindeer. Incidentally, the four-legged and somewhat recalcitrant object of Bildt’s scorn was then persuaded to stand in front of the small gathering of foreign ministers for a photo shoot.

While EU foreign policy will not change into a cohesive and straightforward matter on the back of the meeting, it did serve two purposes. It allowed Ashton to better get to know the ministers whose message she is supposed to represent.  Many of them have known each other for years, or have an automatic standing in the club by virtue of having been appointed foreign minister of their country. Ashton had neither foreign policy experience nor knew the foreign ministers when she started in December. And while personal relations are not everything, it is hard to get stuff done if the message-makers and the messenger consider themselves strangers.  “Above all, this is a support meeting for Cathy Ashton,” said Stubb, who predicted a “reverse Obama” effect for her. This is rather a big claim and rests largely on whether she manages to establish a credible EU diplomatic service.

The other spin-off of the meeting was to give the ministers present a chance to raise the question of what their role is post-Lisbon, where Ashton is supposed to be the single face of EU foreign policy and where they no longer attend European Council meetings. Clearly, some expect a ‘special envoy’ role. This could be something like sending Moratinos to the Middle East when Ashton is double-booked. I see the merit in the idea. But I also see the pitfalls. What if the special envoy is so thorough in his brief that he is the de facto chief in this area, eclipsing Ashton who is both self-effacing and still learning the new dossiers?

In any case, the meeting gave food for thought, not least because it allowed for thorough and free-flowing discussion on the issues – something that does not happen in the formal ministerials. They are planning to repeat the exercise in a year’s time.

Perhaps Ahmet Davutoglu’s assessment of EU foreign policy will give them enough to chew over until then. His was a trenchant message to the effect that the EU is not visible on the ground where it should be – ie in Iran and the South Caucasus. This leaves gaps for others (read Russia) to fill. The second message is one Turkey has been working up to for some time. It is this: the EU needs Turkey as much, if not more, than Turkey needs it.