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The European External Action Service

The EEAS is one of the major innovations of the Treaty of Lisbon. It is a high-profile entity, a functional body in EU law, but not an agency. It supports more than 140 EU delegations world-wide and assists the work of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs. Its establishment aimed at giving the EU one diplomatic service and was  meant to enhance its global standing. The Council Decision (2010/427/EU) that this booklet comments upon gives more of the operational details of the new External Action Service and provides for a review process and possible reform to take place in mid-2013 (Art. 13(3).

The Commentary

Published in a timely fashion, the EEAS commentary is a booklet which intends to serve practitioners, officials, politicians, and analysts involved in the current debate and preparation for the review process. It takes the form of a classical commentary, as common in the German- speaking countries;  it goes through the decision article-by-article, shortly describing it and raising relevant points. Yet, the contributions focus not only on laying out the applicable (case) law, but stress in particular the critical issues, the legal lacunae and those leading to problematic practices.

The commentary discusses one of the distinct curiosities of the EEAS: the nature of the duty of cooperation between the EEAS and Member States’ diplomatic services, including the extent to which, for example, embassies are obliged to share information with EU delegations. The EEAS emphasises the fluid constitutional contours of the operation of sincere cooperation in the EU’s global ambitions. The study of its evolution is thus of major constitutional significance.

The Contributors

The different contributions to this booklet were written by a number of scholars from different institutes: Steven Blockmans (CEPS, ACELG), Marise Cremona (EUI), Deirdre Curtin (ACELG), Geert de Baere (KU Leuven), Simon Duke (EIPA), Christina Eckes (ACELG), Christophe Hillion (SIEPS), Bart van Vooren (University of Copenhagen), Ramses Wessel (University of Twente) and Jan Wouters (KU Leuven).

They give a very broad and inclusive overview over the many topics that this decision raises, including issues such as EEAS’s nature and function, its composition and recruitment, and Member States’ representation therein. The scholars also direct their attention to the EEAS’s position within the broader EU institutional make-up, especially in the trio interaction between the Council, the Commission, and the High Representative. The Commentary does not fail to address other salient issues for the effective functioning of the Service, such as information exchanges within the EU and externally. Questions of transparency and accountability are highlighted as well.

 

This booklet is well-suited to function as a guide for the review process which is conducted by the European institutions. As such, it reflects ACELG’s commitment to reach out to a non-academic audience and to strive for increased societal relevance.