Agreement on the European diplomatic service

On 26 April, foreign ministers reached a political agreement on the proposal for the establishment of the European External Action Service, the EEAS. It will serve as a diplomatic service for the EU, including Union delegations in third countries.

© Fotolia

The creation of the EEAS is one of the most significant changes introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon. It aims to ensure greater coherence and efficiency in the EU's external action and increase its political and economic influence in the world.

The new service is a functionally autonomous EU body set up to assist Catherine Ashton, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in conducting the Common Foreign and Security Policy and in ensuring the consistency of the EU's external action.

Staff will include officials from external relations services in the Council and the Commission as well as personnel from the diplomatic services of the 27 member states. The EEAS will cooperate with the national services, and its delegations outside Europe may support member states in providing consular services for citizens.

The agreement will form the basis for consultations with the European Parliament to make the new service operational as soon as possible. The decision will be adopted by Council after these consultations and with the consent of the Commission. Amending provisions to theEU's financial regulation and staff regulations necessary for the establishment of the EEAS and an amending budget will be adopted in codecision with the European Parliament.

More information:
Press release 
Webcast of press conference