Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry announced it has opened procedures for the selection of diplomats to be appointed at the fledgling European External Action Service (EEAS), which is being established under the Lisbon reform treaty.

This is the first time that diplomats from member states can apply to lead EU delegations, filling ambassador-level posts that were previously the exclusive domain of European Commission officials.

The candidates will apply to fill part of the ten positions in the top management team, about 80 director-level positions and another 9 positions at the situation center in the nascent EU diplomatic service.

The eligible candidates should work in the diplomatic services of a member state. They should have professional experience in international affairs and proficiency in foreign languages, the ministry said.

The selection procedure is meant to be open for a wide range of applicants and the conditions for running in the competitions have already been published on the site of the foreign ministry.

The European Union gave the start to the setting up of its first diplomatic corps, the European External Action Service, at the end of May in a bid to provide representation for the 500-million bloc on the global stage.

Bulgaria has repeatedly expressed hopes for a fair representation of all member states in the staff of the new service and expects to get 15 representatives in the initial staff of the European External Action Service.

The entire corps of the EEAS is planned to have a staff of 5 000-7 000. These will be drawn from the Commission and Council and from the member states' diplomatic services.

The 10 top ranking positions in the new structure – the Secretary-General, two deputy secretaries-general, an administrative secretary, and six directors-general – are open for applicants from all member states.