'It’s a bit of a duck-billed platypus,' said former EU Ambassador James Moran about the EU's diplomatic arm
The EU’s diplomatic service under the leadership of Kaja Kallas is facing an unprecedented bout of internal turmoil – exposing existential questions about whether the bloc’s foreign policy machinery is fit for purpose.
Created under the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, the European External Action Service (EEAS) was designed as a compromise between Brussels and national capitals: strong enough to coordinate diplomacy on behalf of the EU’s governments collectively, independently of the European Commission, but weak enough not to threaten national foreign ministries.
Caught between capitals and Commission
Over 15 years later, officials across the EU institutions say that compromise is increasingly under strain.
