EuroWire, PARIS: France said on Feb. 19 it was surprised the European Commission sent a senior official to Washington for the first formal meeting of the U.S.-led Board of Peace, saying the Commission did not have a mandate from EU member states to represent them in that forum. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux told reporters the Commission “does not have a mandate” from the Council to attend and take part, and said France had chosen not to be represented at the gathering.
Confavreux said Paris wanted the Board of Peace to re-focus on Gaza and to operate in line with a United Nations Security Council resolution, adding that France could not participate while there was ambiguity over the initiative’s parameters. He said the Commission would be expected to clarify its involvement after Commissioner Dubravka Šuica returned from Washington. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also said the Commission should not have attended without a mandate and urged respect for EU law and institutional balance.
The European Commission said Šuica, the Commissioner for the Mediterranean, travelled to Washington to participate on behalf of the Commission in talks tied to the Gaza peace plan and post-war recovery discussions taking place under the Board of Peace umbrella. In a Commission statement issued Feb. 18, the EU executive linked the trip to the EU’s stated commitment to implementing the Gaza ceasefire and supporting international efforts for recovery and reconstruction, pointing to the bloc’s funding for Palestinians, including a €1.6 billion programme for 2025 to 2027 and more than €550 million in humanitarian assistance since October 2023.
Institutional balance questioned
France’s criticism centered on EU institutional roles, with Paris arguing that foreign policy positions and representation in sensitive diplomatic formats are set by member states, not by the Commission acting on its own. The Commission has said it attended as an observer and that it is not joining the Board of Peace as a member. The dispute has played out as several EU governments weigh how to engage with a U.S. initiative that touches on Gaza’s governance, reconstruction financing and security arrangements while the EU remains a major donor and a central actor in assistance coordination.
The Board of Peace was launched by U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, when the White House said he ratified a charter establishing it as an international organization with Trump as chairman. The White House later said the initiative was endorsed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 (2025), which it said backed Trump’s Gaza plan and welcomed the Board of Peace. Ahead of the Washington meeting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said more than 20 countries would participate.
Board of Peace meeting in Washington
At the Feb. 19 session in Washington, Trump said the United States would contribute $10 billion to the Board of Peace, a pledge that would require congressional approval to fund. He also said other participants had pledged billions more for Gaza relief, and the White House said member states had committed more than $5 billion for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts. Leavitt said member states had also committed to providing thousands of personnel for an international stabilization force for Gaza, and the White House said the meeting’s agenda was focused on Gaza.
The Commission said it wanted to ensure coordination and complementarity between EU assistance and other international efforts, including through bilateral meetings on the margins of the Washington talks. France reiterated that it would not take part while it viewed the Board’s scope as unclear, and said the Commission should explain how it decided to attend without a Council mandate, underscoring new strain inside the EU over representation, authority and accountability in diplomacy tied to Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction.