Publication

This paper analyzes whether the Lisbon Treaty has delivered on it's promise to strengthen the EU’s presence among its Eastern neighbors as well as improve the EU's capacities in decision- and policy-making towards them. It finds that what efforts of the European External Action Service (EEAS), “the Union’s diplomatic service”, are undermined by 1) scarcity of staff in headquarter in Brussels, 2) scarcity of staff in EU delegations, 3) under-representation of “new Member States”, and 4) lack of esprit du corps.