The European External Action Service

Based on extensive empirical work by a cross-European group of researchers, this book assesses the impact of the creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS) on the national foreign policy-making processes and institutions of the EU member states. As such, the contributions cover both the involvement of the national diplomatic and foreign policy actors in shaping the outlook of the EEAS and its mission, as well as the changes (or not) it has produced for those actors of the member states. The analysis draws in theoretical frameworks from Europeanization and socialization, but also from intergovernmental frameworks of policy-making within the European Union. An introduction by the editors outlines the issues and trends examined in the book and establishes the theoretical and methodological framework. Split into 2 sections, Part I: EEAS and national diplomacies as part of global and European structures has contributions by Richard Whitman, Rosa Balfour, Christian Lequesne, Caterina Carta and Simon Duke. Part II: National diplomacies shaping and being shaped by the EEAS is covered by Daniel Fiott, Fabien Terpan, Cornelius Adebahr, Andrea Frontini, Ignacio Molina and Alicia Sorroza, Laura C. Ferreira-Pereira, Alena Vysotskaya G. Vieira and Louise van Schaik, Grzegorz Gromadzki, Mark Rhinard, Jakob Lewander and Sara Norrevik, Sabina Kajnc Lange, Ruby Gropas and George Tzogopoulos, Vit Beneš and Kristi Raik. This book is much needed, especially in an era when the EU is trying to pull its weight in the international sphere (e.g. Syria, Iran, the Arab Spring, Chinese relations and emerging powers) but also at a time when the EU is trying to recalibrate its institutional structure in light of the current financial predicaments and questions on the democratic legitimacy of the European project.

This book explains why the EEAS, despite being hailed as a milestone in integration in Europe's foreign policy, has fallen short of the mark. It does so by enlisting American institutionalist approaches to European questions of institutional creation, bureaucratic organisations and change.

This book questions whether the institutions and practices of the emerging EU diplomatic system conform to established standards of the state-centric diplomatic order; or whether practice is paving the way for innovative, even revolutionary, forms of diplomatic organisation.

In European External Action Service, Mauro Gatti provides a legal analysis of the EU’s ‘foreign ministry’ and assesses its capability to promote coherence in EU external relations.

The creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS) is one of the most significant changes introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon. Often referred to as the EU's 'Diplomatic Service', it is aimed at enabling greater coherence and efficiency in EU's external action. On 1 December 2010 the EEAS started its work. Over the past three years, the EEAS has been variously criticised. Considering the uncertainties about the division of labour and responsibilities, some of the criticism is justified. Albeit, it will require more than a few bureaucratic changes to make the EEAS to speak with one voice. This book attempts not only to focus on the shortcomings concerning the implementation of the EEAS but it also reflects on the added values of the service. For academics and practitioners alike, Dialer, Neisser and Opitz provide a balanced and fine-grained account of the role and functions of the EEAS and invite their readers to further discuss and research on this topic.

The creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s new diplomatic body, was accompanied by high expectations for improving the way Europe would deal with foreign policy. However, observers of its first years of operation have come to the opposite conclusion. This book explains why the EEAS, despite being hailed as a milestone in integration in Europe’s foreign policy, has fallen short of the mark. It does so by enlisting American institutionalist approaches to European questions of institutional creation, bureaucratic organisations and change. The book examines the peculiar shape the EEAS’s organisation has taken, what political factors determined that shape and design and how it has operated. Finally, it looks at the autonomous operation of the EEAS from a bureaucratic theory perspective, concluding that this is the best way to understand its course. Including data gathered from elite interviews of politicians and senior officials involved in the institutional process, an assessment of official documentary evidence and a survey of EEAS officials at the organisation’s beginning, it sheds new light on a controversial tool in the EU's foreign policy. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of European Union foreign policy, public administration, and more broadly to European Union and European politics, as well as to practitioners within those fields.

"The Lisbon Treaty created a new EU foreign affairs chief, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who is also Vice-President of the European Commission. The High Representative is supported by a new diplomatic corps known as the European External Action Service (EEAS). This report addressed the question of whether the setting up of the EEAS has been managed effectively. It concludes both that the EEAS was established without adequate preparation and that its efficiency was impaired by shortcomings in its management of resources. The Court also found that, although coordination between the EEAS and both the Commission and Member States was improving, it was still inadequate. "-- Page [4] of cover.