The European External Action Service: Preparing for Success

Like similar initiatives that have taken place in recent months, the seminar illustrated that many questions remain unanswered about the new service, even if it was officially launched on 1 December 2010.

However, by bringing together senior officials from 22 EU member states, the seminar managed to provide a fresh look at the EEAS’s establishment, moving beyond institution-building in Brussels, and pointing at the challenges and
opportunities for national diplomacy, both in capitals and missions abroad.

Somewhat paradoxically, the service offers new tools for further integration of the EU’s foreign policy activities, but may also trigger a renationalization reflex in some capitals. Core interests may be reserved for the national level(s), whereas strategically less-important issues and difficultmessages may be passed onto the new service, also under the new pretext of budgetary reasons.

A fair evaluation thus starts with answering the question of
whether the new service is an institutional stepping stone towards a more mature foreign policy for the EU, as it
was intended to be, or a tool for resolving some of the problems that national diplomacy is facing today.

ESO: Background Information: Website: European External Action Service http://www.europeansources.info/record/website-european-external-action-service/

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