EU-Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton faces EU Parliament grilling

Catherine Ashton is little known in the UK but, if she ever doubted it before, she must have realised today she is now an international figure. For her three-hour questioning in the European Parliament there was a packed debating chamber with banks of cameras. As Europe's new "foreign minister" the big question that hung over her appointment was her inexperience in foreign affairs. It was clear today she had spent the past five weeks preparing for this hearing.

There were questions about Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Cuba, Kosovo, the United States etc. She was confident, but sometimes bland and general. It frustrated some MEPs, who demanded to know what her vision was. Afterwards the Greens said "her hearing revealed no sense of vision". But others who had been critical before praised her performance. Afterwards she was asked asked which leaders would be called at a moment of international crisis. "I suspect," she said, "in an international crisis a number of phone calls will be made. One of them will be to me."

Soon she will make her first major trip to Washington. Others will follow to the Middle East, Beijing and Moscow. By April she will have to have drawn up plans for a diplomatic service.

For the complete report: BBC - Gavin Hewitt's Europe