ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU's) foreign service, the European External Action Service (EEAS), is a creation of the Lisbon Treaty. It's an institutional hybrid born out of the merger of the foreign policy arms of the Council of Ministers and of the European Commission. It can be likened to an EU foreign ministry and an EU diplomatic service. The EEAS is a separate EU institution with its own budget. The EEAS is led by the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, also known as the EU foreign policy chief. The first foreign policy chief was Briton Catherine Ashton, who was followed by Italian Federica Mogherini in 2014. The foreign policy chief is both the foreign affairs commissioner in the European Commission and the president of the Foreign Affairs Council in the Council of Ministers. The Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) publishes an annual report in spring and many thematic reports and surveys throughout the year that are of journalistic interest.
