ABSTRACT
The European External Action Service is a microcosm through which to explore the changing relationship between EU member states and EU institutions in a field that is among the closest to the heart of national sovereignty: foreign and security policy. This book has analysed these relationships and interactions in a context of European integration which was undergoing competing trends. The implementation of the Lisbon Treaty entailed a phase of institutional adjustment at a time of rapid global change due to the growing emergence of diverse international actors and the concomitant decline of Europe’s relative weight. At the same time, the backdrop of the economic crisis, growing scepticism towards the European integration project among citizens, and temptations towards re-nationalizing policy competences, negatively shaped the environment in which the foreign and security policy and institutional innovations were carried forward following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009.
