Britain¿s top diplomat to Europe is skewered in report which brands her indecisive and slow to act Baroness Ashton is representative for foreign affairs and security policy Branded as indecisive and unable to deliver the clout needed Report: The EU has reacted too late when crises have cropped up Criticism: Europe's top diplomat Catherine Ashton has been skewered by a report which says she has failed to advance EU influence in her post Europe's top diplomat Catherine Ashton has been skewered by a report which says she has failed to advance EU influence in her post as super-foreign minister in Brussels. Baroness Ashton, the grandly-named European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, is branded as indecisive and unable to deliver the clout that the EU thinks it should have in influencing overseas governments. Labour party member Ashton took office three and a half years ago with the plan being for her to lend weight to EU foreign policy. On Tuesday the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Elmar Brok presented a paper branding her office 'too top-heavy and marked by too many decision-making layers.' The paper added that Ashton often reacts too late and allows EU member states to dictate her staffing policy. Spiegel Magazine in Germany, which has reviewed the whole report, said of her department; 'It's certainly under uniquely poor management, or so the parliamentary report suggests, with its long list of the agency's shortcomings. Wherever crises have cropped up over the past two years, the EU has reacted too late. When the Arab Spring broke out, Ashton had to be asked several times before she finally flew to Cairo. Affairs: Baroness Ashton, right, and Chief Executive of European Defence Agency Claude France Arnould talk prior a Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) yesterday Even with an ongoing crisis brewing in Mali, it was France that ultimately intervened to keep the country from falling completely to Islamic fundamentalists. 'Operational decision-making and implementation in the area of the Common Foreign and Security Policy / Common Security and Defense Policy (CFSP/CSDP) are too slow because of structural and procedural reasons,' criticizes the parliamentary report. It goes on; 'It has become apparent that the EU is unable to ensure, in the short term, a reallocation of resources, including staff, to match new political priorities.' Request: When the Arab Spring broke out, Ashton had to be asked several times before she finally flew to Cairo The report said: 'Even with an ongoing crisis brewing in Mali, it was France that ultimately intervened to keep the country from falling completely to Islamic fundamentalists' Critics say she has not made any 'memorable statements' even on the euro-zone debt crisis, the financial catastrophe which threatens the EU's very existence. 'When her staff reminds her that China and Japan are highly interested to know how stable Europe's currency is, the high representative replies that the subject is not her area,' added Spiegel. Inge Graessle, a member of the European Parliament's budgetary control committee, points out that no other EU institution has so many high-level officials overseeing so little staff. And Baroness Ashton, went into office determined to cut back on the number of 'special representatives' with large expense accounts and travel budgets, has appointed more of them than anyone before her. Graessle says their primary purpose is 'aimless foreign policy action.' Baroness Ashton recently announced she will step down in 2014. 'She knows she has no chance of a second term,' added Spiegel.