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The Palgrave Handbook of the European Administrative System pp 208–223Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The European External Action Service (EEAS), the New Kid on the Block

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Part of the book series: European Administrative Governance ((EAGOV))

Abstract

In contrast to many of the other institutions discussed in this volume, the creation of a European-level foreign policy administration is of a more recent nature. Coordination of member states foreign policy only emerged from the 1970s onwards, in the form of the so-called European Political Cooperation (EPC). Being developed outside the Treaty framework, it was initially steered entirely from the national capitals. The exchange of views and formulation of joint declarations was coordinated by the rotating presidency with a key role for the national ministries of foreign affairs. As the member states tried to move beyond a merely declaratory foreign policy, the need for more permanent bodies increased. The establishment in 1987 of a small foreign policy unit in the Council General Secretariat was the beginning of a slow but ever-increasing Brusselization of the European foreign policy machinery (Allen, 1998). The last but most substantial step in this long and incremental process has been the creation of a European External Action Service (EEAS) in December 2010.

‘Protected values’ are ‘values that resist trade-offs with other values’ (Baron and Spranca, 1997, 1; Ritov and Baron, 1999; Tetlock, et al., 2000).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

    Tannelie Blom (Professor)

  2. Politics Department, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

    Sophie Vanhoonacker (Jean Monnet Professor and Head)

Authors
  1. Tannelie Blom
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  2. Sophie Vanhoonacker
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer, Germany

    Michael W. Bauer (Jean Monnet Professor and Chair of Comparative Public Administration and Policy Analysis) (Jean Monnet Professor and Chair of Comparative Public Administration and Policy Analysis)

  2. Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder, Norway

    Jarle Trondal (Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Professor of European Studies) (Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Professor of European Studies)

  3. ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway

    Jarle Trondal (Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Professor of European Studies) (Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Professor of European Studies)

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© 2015 Tannelie Blom and Sophie Vanhoonacker

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Blom, T., Vanhoonacker, S. (2015). The European External Action Service (EEAS), the New Kid on the Block. In: Bauer, M.W., Trondal, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the European Administrative System. European Administrative Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137339898_12

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