ABSTRACT
The idea of the EU having its own diplomatic service had been raised back in the 1970s. The Commission’s delegations could be described as a nascent foreign service for the EU but they were not really equipped to deal with foreign and security policy. The momentum to establish the external action service arose from the 2003 Convention on the Future of Europe. After a decade’s experience of the CFSP there was a broad consensus that the EU needed to have its own service, albeit based on the Commission delegations, that would bring together officials from the Commission, Council and member states to act on behalf of the EU. The aim was to inject more continuity, coherence and visibility into EU external affairs. The EEAS took some time to establish partly because of delays in ratifying the Lisbon Treaty and even after ratification there were bureaucratic battles that slowed down the process. During its first year of operation there was much criticism of the new service and especially the performance of Catherine Ashton, its first head. Defenders of Ashton pointed to the lack of solidarity at crucial times from the 27 member states.
