Conceptualizing the European Diplomatic Space: A Framework for Analysis of the European External Action Service

Abstract:

The creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS) has a significant impact not only on European foreign policy-making, but also, more widely, on the transformation of the European political order, and represents a further step in the evolution of a European administrative space. Analysing the EEAS as an instance of European administrative space will inform on the shape of the Euro-polity, in that more independent European administrative capacities in area of core state-powers could be interpreted as an indicator for a shift of the EU’s political order. Based on direct observation, document analysis and expert interviews with EEAS officials, the paper presents a first overview of the outcomes of this capacity-building exercise, suggests a comprehensive conceptual framework for analysis and concludes that the EEAS can be seen as an instance of the European administrative space.