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EU Representative to a Third Country

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Dictionary of Statuses within EU Law

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Abstract

It is widely known that the European Union (EU) enjoys a unique, sui generis international status that is characterized by its capacity to maintain diplomatic relations with third countries and international organizations. Over the last 60 years the EU has gradually built up its own bilateral and multilateral diplomatic network that has been made subject, through specific agreements with host countries, to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. These delegations—also known as EU embassies—are now operating as the diplomatic missions of the EU as a whole, in contrast to the former Commission delegations, and they employ permanent EU officials and contracted agents under the supervision of the heads of delegation or EU representatives to third countries. On the occasion of the Council Decision of 26 July 2010 establishing the organization and functioning of the European External Action Service (EEAS), a series of modifications was introduced to the Staff Regulations in order to accommodate the needs of the EEAS, and these modifications ensure that the EU officials enjoy a special regime and a series of advantages.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Article 1(2) of Council Decision 2010/427/EU of 26 July 2010 establishing the organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service, OJEU 2010, L 201/30 of 3 August 2010 (‘Council Decision EEAS’).

  2. 2.

    CONV 459/02, Final Report of Working Group VII on External Action, Brussels, 16 December 2002, pp. 6, 7.

  3. 3.

    According to Plantey, sovereignty is also a necessary condition for the development of diplomacy. The international diplomatic scheme has a strong national nature.

  4. 4.

    The European Union, pursuant to Art. 4(2) TEU, must respect the Member States’ essential state functions in the exercise of the powers transferred by them.

  5. 5.

    The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations was signed in Vienna on 18 April 1961 and entered into force on 24 April 1964. See United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS), Volume 500.

  6. 6.

    According to Article 48, ‘The present Convention shall be open for signature by all States Members of the United Nations or of any of the specialized agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency or parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and by any other State invited by the General Assembly of the United Nations to become a party to the Convention,…’. Article 50: ‘This Convention shall remain open for accession by any State belonging to any of the categories mentioned in Article 48’.

  7. 7.

    See Article 1(2) Council Decision EEAS.

  8. 8.

    See Article 3(4) and 4(5) Council Decision EEAS.

  9. 9.

    See Article 1(3) Council Decision EEAS.

  10. 10.

    See the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, Chapter II, Section 1, Article III-294.2.

  11. 11.

    The change of title of the post reflects the fact that it has become clear that human resources represent the Union and not the Member States. The President of the European Council, and not the EU, exercises the powers of this post, without prejudice to the powers of the Department of Human Resources and Security Policy of the Union.

  12. 12.

    See Articles 18 and 27(2) TEU.

  13. 13.

    See Article 15(6) TEU.

  14. 14.

    See Article 5(1) of Council Decision EEAS.

  15. 15.

    Article 3: The functions of a diplomatic mission consist, inter alia, in: (a) Representing the sending State in the receiving State; (b) Protecting in the receiving State the interests of the sending State and of its nationals, within the limits permitted by international law; (c) Negotiating with the Government of the receiving State; (d) Ascertaining by all lawful means conditions and developments in the receiving State, and reporting thereon to the Government of the sending State; (e) Promoting friendly relations between the sending State and the receiving State, and developing their economic, cultural and scientific relations.

  16. 16.

    See Article 5(8) of Council Decision EEAS.

  17. 17.

    See Article 37 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

  18. 18.

    See Article 17 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

  19. 19.

    See Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 1080/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010, published in OJEU L 311 of 26 November 2010.

  20. 20.

    See OJ L 311 of 26 November 2010, amended Article 95.

  21. 21.

    See Council Decision EEAS.

  22. 22.

    See OJ L 311 of 26 November 2010, amended Article 96.

  23. 23.

    See OJ L 311 of 26 November 2010, amended Article 97.

  24. 24.

    See OJ L 311 of 26 November 2010, amended Article 98.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Law, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Alcalá de Henares, Spain

    Carlos Francisco Molina del Pozo

  2. DG DEVCO - Unit 4 International Cooperation and Development, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Pablo Molina del Pozo Martín

Authors
  1. Carlos Francisco Molina del Pozo
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  2. Pablo Molina del Pozo Martín
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Correspondence to Carlos Francisco Molina del Pozo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Law, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Antonio Bartolini

  2. Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Roberto Cippitani

  3. National Research Council, IFAC Institute, Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy

    Valentina Colcelli

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Molina del Pozo, C.F., Molina del Pozo Martín, P. (2019). EU Representative to a Third Country. In: Bartolini, A., Cippitani, R., Colcelli, V. (eds) Dictionary of Statuses within EU Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00554-2_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00554-2_30

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