European External Action Service
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EEAS (Triangle building )European External Action Service (Brussels) |
The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the
The EEAS does not propose or implement policy in its own name, but prepares acts to be adopted by the
The EEAS, as well as the office of the HR, was initiated following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009. It was formally established on 1 December 2010.[10] The EEAS was formed by merger of the external relations departments of the European Commission and of the Council, which were joined by staff seconded from national diplomatic services of the Member States.[4] Although it supports both the commission and the council, the EEAS is independent from them and has its own staff, as well as a separate section in the EU budget.[11]
The EEAS and the European Defence Agency (EDA) together form the Secretariat of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the structural integration pursued by 25 of the 27 national armed forces of the EU since 2017.[12]
History
The EEAS was first included in the original
The mandate for the External Action Service is laid down under article 13a-III of the Treaty of Lisbon (TEU Article 27), and states the following:
In fulfilling his mandate, the High Representative shall be assisted by a European External Action Service. This service shall work in cooperation with the diplomatic services of the Member States and shall comprise officials from relevant departments of the General Secretariat of the Council and of the Commission as well as staff seconded from national diplomatic services of the Member States. The organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service shall be established by a decision of the Council. The Council shall act on a proposal from the High Representative after consulting the European Parliament and after obtaining the consent of the Commission.[14]
Shortly before the treaty came into force,
Throughout the first half of 2010 Ashton fought for agreement between the Council, Parliament and the Commission as to the future shape of the EEAS. The Commission wanted to retain as many of its existing competencies (trade, development, enlargement, representations and so forth) as possible[16] while Parliament fought to gain as much oversight over the EEAS as possible by demanding scrutiny of appointments and budgets.[17] Parliament removed the last hurdle to the plan on 8 July, when MEPs approved the service by 549 votes for and 78 against with 17 abstentions. The Council approved the transfer of departments to the EEAS on 20 July. Until the EEAS became operational, Ashton was only supported by around 30 people on a floor of the Berlaymont building.[18][19] The EEAS was formally launched at the Commission headquarters in a low key event on 1 December 2010.[10]
Organisation
For organisation of the executive offices, see Senior posts below[20]
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The EEAS manages general foreign relations, security and defence policies and controls the
The EEAS has six geographical departments headed by a managing director. The departments divide the world into: 1) Africa, 2) Asia, 3) Americas, 4) the Middle East and Southern Neighbourhood, 5) Russia, the Eastern Neighbourhood and the Western Balkans and 6) Global and Multilateral Affairs.[22] Geographic desks are not duplicated in the commission.[23] The EEAS also includes departments for security, strategic policy planning, legal affairs, inter-institutional relations, information and public diplomacy, internal audit and inspections, and personal data protection.[19]
Departments transferred
Parts of the following departments have been transferred from the commission or Council to the External Action Service:
Staff
Staff is drawn from the Commission and Council and from the member states' diplomatic services, seconded temporarily. The HR appoints his or her own staff directly.[3] There were no national quotas for the initial 1,100 staff members and a minimum of 33% was to be from member states. The rest are permanent officials drawn from the European Commission and the Secretariat General of the Council of the European Union. This is in part due to the need to establish a common diplomatic culture, which is also what has prompted calls for a European Diplomatic Academy.[24]
On 1 January 2011 the first staff were permanently transferred to the EEAS: 585 from the Commissions External Relations DG (which ceased to exist), 93 from the Commissions Development DG (the remainder of which merged into Development Cooperation DG), 436 from the Commission delegations and 411 from the Council of the European Union. These joined with 118 new posts to create a staff of 1,643 on the day of transfer.[25]
Senior posts
The day-to-day administration of the EEAS is handled by an Executive Secretary-General.[26]
The EEAS shall be managed by an Executive Secretary-General who will operate under the authority of the High Representative. The Executive Secretary-General shall take all measures necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the EEAS, including its administrative and budgetary management. The Executive Secretary-General shall ensure effective coordination between all departments in the central administration as well as with the Union Delegations.
— Council agreement's outline of the duties of the Executive Secretary-General[19]
Below the Secretary-General there are two deputy Secretaries-General. One of the deputy secretaries-general deals with administrative matters (such as co-ordination and co-operation with the commission) while the other assists with foreign policy formulation.[18][26][27] On 28 July 2015 it was announced that as from mid-September 2015, the Secretary General will be assisted by a third Deputy Secretary-General, in charge of Economic and Global Issues.[28] However under the final agreed plans the HR would be deputised by a relevant European Commissioner or the foreign minister holding the rotating council presidency.[23]
The Secretary-General will also oversee the autonomous cells such as the Situation Centre (see intelligence below), the military staff, an internal security unit, audit unit and a unit for communications and relations with other EU institutions.[26] The chief operating officer deals with the budget and administration and six managing directors each manage a department (see organisation).[22] The following are the current office holders;[29]
Post | Office-holder | State |
---|---|---|
Secretary-General and Deputies | ||
Secretary-General | Stefano Sannino | Italy |
Deputy Secretary-General for Economic and Global Issues | Helena König | Sweden |
Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs | Enrique Mora Benavente
|
Spain |
Deputy Secretary-General for CSDP and Crisis Response | Charles Fries | France |
Managing Directors | ||
Managing director for Asia and Pacific | Gunnar Wiegand | Germany |
Managing director for Africa | Rita Laranjinha | Portugal |
Managing director for Europe and Central Asia | Angelina Eichhorst (ad interim) | Netherlands |
Managing director for Middle East and Northern Africa | Fernando Gentilini | Italy |
Managing director for the Americas | Brian Glynn | Ireland |
Managing director for Global and Multilateral Affairs | Lotte Knudsen | Denmark |
Managing director for CSDP and Crisis Response | Pavel Herczynski | Poland |
Other Senior Managers | ||
Director General EU Military Staff (EUMS), also serving as Director of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) | Lt Gen Esa Pulkkinen | Finland |
Director of the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC) | Vincenzo Coppola | Italy |
Director of the EU Intelligence and Situation Centre | José Casimiro Morgado | Portugal |
Permanent Chair of the Political and Security Committee | Sofie From-Emmesberger | Finland |
Director of Inter-institutional relations, policy coordination and public diplomacy | Oliver Rentschler | Germany |
Delegations
The former
On 1 January 2010 all former European Commission delegations were renamed European Union delegations and were gradually upgraded into embassy-type missions that employ greater powers than the regular delegations. These upgraded delegations have taken on the role previously carried out by the national embassies of the member state holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union and merged with the independent Council delegations around the world. Through this the EU delegations take on the role of co-ordinating national embassies and speaking for the EU as a whole, not just the commission.[31]
The first delegation to be upgraded was the one in Washington D.C., the new
Budget
The EEAS's budget is proposed and managed by the HR[3] and be signed off every year by Parliament. Parliament would also review the budget of each EU mission; Parliament's oversight would put an end to a long-standing gentlemen's agreement whereby Parliament and Council do not look at each other's budget details.[17]
Parliamentary oversight
Parliament has fought to gain oversight over the EEAS and under final plans the budget, though independent, would be scrutinised by MEPs who can approve or reject it. Parliament would also be consulted on overseas missions and have stronger budgetary oversight over those too. They would also informally vet appointments to prominent foreign embassies and have access to some classified EEAS documents.[18][23]
Intelligence and security
As part of the merger, the intelligence gathering services in the Commission and Council will be merged. These services are the council's
The commission's Crisis Room is run by six commission officials who run a restricted website reporting breaking news on the 118 active conflicts in the world based on open sources and news from EU embassies. It uses scientific tools including statistical analysis and software which scans global TV broadcasts for names and key words. Details on the plans for the new merged intelligence service are still sketchy as of early 2010 but it will not run undercover operations along the lines of national intelligence agencies despite proposals from Belgium and Austria after the 2004 Madrid train bombings.[34]
The Situation Centre and Crisis Room would be merged and headed by the HR. It would be located near the HR's office headed by a director-general with a staff of around 160 people and a budget of 10 to 20 million euro a year. It would have IT experts, scientists, tacticians and seconded intelligence operatives. It would send people into crisis zones to gather information and have 24/7 hotlines to EU delegations around the world. It would give the HR an immediate and powerful asset in an emergency without having to go via the council's Political and Security committee first.[35] However it is unclear if the council's Clearing House (or Working Group CP 931 which deals with the EU's terrorism blacklist[36]) would be merged into the EEAS along with these other bodies.[37]
Meanwhile, Ashton appointed a Polish security operative to head a working group designing the security architecture of the EEAS; particularly the physical security of the EEAS building and its communication network with its embassies. It is seen as particularly important due to the EEAS handling sensitive, as discussed above, amid espionage concerns from China and Russia.[37]
In September 2010, job adverts went out to EU institutions and national embassies for three junior posts at the EEAS. One for foreign deployment, one for a multi-lingual internet researcher and one to follow up on open and confidential information sources. The adverts expressed more about the future department's work, in particular at the new director would be expected to travel to global hotspots.[38] The director of the Joint Situation Centre was appointed in December 2010, Finnish security chief Ilkka Salmi.[39]
The High Representative also has authority over the European Defence Agency, EU Institute for Security Studies and the EU Satellite Centre, though these remain autonomous from the EEAS itself.[40][41][42][43]
Commission's responsibilities
The European Commission managed to retain control over its competencies in aid (and its €6 billion a year budget), development, energy and enlargement. This gives the relevant Commissioners the lead in those areas
However Ashton's draft plan for the EEAS included proposals for the EEAS to take responsibility for Neighbourhood Policy (currently assigned to the Enlargement Commissioner) and international development at least.[44] Under a compromise with the commission, it was agreed development would be split, with the EEAS taking on three of the five planning cycles from the commission.[45] How this division of labour will work in practice only began being tested in 2012 as the 2014–2020 programming exercise began.[46]
The following Directorates-General (DGs) and Commissioners are not being merged and decisions in these areas require approval from the college of Commissioners:
- Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response (Kristalina Georgieva).
- Commissioner for Enlargement (Štefan Füle).
- DG Trade: Commissioner for Trade (Cecilia Malmström).
- DG Energy: Commissioner for Energy (Günther Oettinger).
- Foreign Policy Instruments Service
Location
The EEAS is based in the
It was originally expected that the EEAS would take over the commission's
The EEAS's CSDP bodies are situated in the Kortenberg building, as these could not be moved to the Triangle building in 2012 for security reasons.[51]
See also
- Common Foreign and Security Policy
- Foreign relations of the European Union
- Joint European Union Intelligence School
- List of diplomatic missions of the European Union
- List of European Union ambassadors
References
- ^ "EEAS Human Resources Report 2018" (PDF). July 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
- ^ "EEAS Annual Activity Report 2018" (PDF). July 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f Rettman, Andrew (23 October 2009) EU states envisage new foreign policy giant, EU Observer
- ^ OCLC 951833456.
- OCLC 951833456.
- ^ Art. 5 of COUNCIL DECISION establishing the organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service (PDF), Council of the European Union, 20 July 2010
- ^ "The Crisis Management and Planning Directorate (CMPD)".
- ^ "The Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC)". EEAS - European External Action Service, European Commission.
- ^ "The European Union Military Staff (EUMS)". EEAS - European External Action Service, European Commission.
- ^ a b Rettman, Andrew (2 December 2010). "Ashton names EU foreign-service priorities at low-key launch event", EU Observer.
- OCLC 951833456.
- ^ Marrone, Alessandro. "Permanent Structured Cooperation: An Institutional Pathway for European Defence".
- ^ Grant, Charles (19 June 2007). "Constitutional fudge". Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
- ^ "Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community". 17 December 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
- ^ Rettman, Andrew (14 January 2009). "EU foreign relations chief tests new powers in earthquake response", EU Observer.
- ^ Gaspers, Jan (January 2010). "Putting Europe First". Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ^ EU Observer, accessed 24 March 2010
- ^ a b c d Rettman, Andrew (8 July 2010) EU takes 'historic' step on new diplomatic service, EU Observer
- ^ a b c d COUNCIL DECISION establishing the organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service PDF, Council of the European Union, 20 July 2010
- ^ Lewis, Aidan (7 December 2012). "EU diplomatic service cautious on tough global stage". BBC. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
- ^ Rettman, Andrew (1 March 2010) Germany attacks UK over EU diplomatic service, EU Observer
- ^ a b EUROPEAN EXTERNAL ACTION SERVICE Provisional organisational chart, EEAS
- ^ a b c d Mahony, Honor (22 June 2010) Details emerge on final set-up of EU diplomatic corps, EU Observer
- ^ Rettman, Andrew (4 June 2010) EU ponders creation of new diplomatic breed, EU Observer
- ^ A new step in the setting-up of the EEAS: Transfer of staff on 1 January 2011, Council of the European Union 21 December 2010
- ^ a b c Rettman, Andrew (11 March 2010) France and Germany eye top job in EU diplomatic corps, EU Observer
- ^ Rettman, Andrew (29 October 2010) German and Pole join roll-call of Ashton lieutenants, EU Observer
- ^ "European Union - EEAS (European External Action Service) | High Representative Federica Mogherini announces adoption of a modified organisational chart of the EEAS". eeas.europa.eu. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ Organigramme, European External Action Service, April 2020
- ^ External Service – delegations' websites Archived 27 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Europa.eu website
- ^ "EU commission 'embassies' granted new powers". EUobserver. 21 January 2010.
- ^ EU envoy to US flaunts new powers, EU Observer 11 August 2010
- ^ EU foreign ministers approve diplomatic service, EU Observer 27 July 2010
- ^ a b Rettman, Andrew (22 February 2010) EU diplomats to benefit from new intelligence hub, EU Observer
- ^ Rettman, Andrew (27 June 2010) Ashton to take command of US-type situation room, EU Observer
- ^ Fight against the financing of terrorism – implementation of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP, Council of the European Union
- ^ a b Rettman, Andrew (1 July 2010) Ashton hires Polish agent to beef up security, EU Observer
- ^ "EU seeks 'stress-resistant' intelligence officer". EUobserver. 20 September 2010.
- ^ "Ashton picks Finn to be EU 'spymaster'". EUobserver. 17 December 2010.
- ^ EUROPEAN EXTERNAL ACTION SERVICE Graphic representation (PDF), EEAS
- ^ Supervision, EUSC
- ^ About Us, EUISS
- ^ Organisation, EDA
- ^ "Ashton to present plans for diplomatic service | European Voice". Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
- ^ Mahony, Honor (25 March 2010) Ashton secures deal on new diplomatic service, EU Observer
- ^ Görtz, S. and N. Keijzer. 2012. Reprogramming EU development cooperation for 2014–2020 – Key moments for partner countries, EU Delegations, member states and headquarters in 2012. (ECDPM Discussion Paper 129), http://www.ecdpm.org/dp129[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c Rettman, Andrew (27 October 2010) Ashton chooses €12-million-a-year EU headquarters, EU Observer
- ^ a b c d Rettman, Andrew (27 October 2010) Ashton chooses €12-million-a-year EU headquarters, EU Observer
- ^ Rankin, Jennifer and Toby Vogel (12 November 2009) Smoothing the road from Nice to Lisbon, European Voice
- ^ a b Rettman, Andrew (20 September 2010) Ashton favours 'Lex' building for new headquarters, EU Observer
- ^ Major General Maurice de LANGLOIS, Andreas CAPSTACK (2014) THE ROLE OF THE MILITARY IN THE EU’S EXTERNAL ACTION2THE ROLE OF THE MILITARY IN THE EU’S EXTERNAL ACTION:IMPLEMENTING THE COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH
External links
- Official website
- EU in the World's channel on YouTube
- Web site of EEAS Trade Unions (in English and French) mixed
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Search EU Financial Sanctions List
- Helwig, Niklas; Ivan, Paul; Kostanyan, Hrant (10 February 2013). The New EU Foreign Policy Architecture: Reviewing the first two years of the EEAS (PDF). Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS).