Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg (S&D), in writing. – (PL) The Rapkay report on amending the Staff Regulations in the context of establishing the European External Action Service, the EEAS, is a very important document on the road to creating a Union foreign policy. In the few days before adoption of the report, the matter of geographical balance proved to be a bone of contention. Fellow Members from what are known as the old countries argued that the EU diplomatic corps which is just being set up should recruit the best of the best, and that recruitment should be based only on the criteria of candidates’ knowledge and experience (merit only), while as Members from the new countries, we drew attention to the fact that in our countries, too, there is no shortage of superb professionals, but that despite the passing of six years from accession, the 10 new countries are still strongly under-represented in Union structures. For example, the proportion of Poles in the European Commission Directorate-General for External Relations, which will be incorporated into the EEAS, amounts to only 2%. The concept of geographical balance, in the version proposed by the rapporteur, is, in my opinion, not clear enough and cannot be considered a clear legal basis for taking measures to correct this imbalance. Therefore, unfortunately, I cannot endorse the report, although apart from this question, it does contain many valuable proposals.