EU Foreign Policy-Making in Brussels and EU Delegations under HRVP Catherine Ashton and Federica Mogherini

When Federica Mogherini took the office of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affair and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HRVP), she promised to improve the working relations between the European External Action Service (EEAS) and EU institutions, the European Commission in particular. In fact, a few steps have been immediately taken in that direction, such as nomination of Stefano Manservisi, one of the most influential Commission officials, as head of Mogherini’s Cabinet and moving of the HRVP’s office from the EEAS to the Commission premises. Nevertheless, the question remains whether these and other changes are cosmetic or whether they have any real impact on interactions of the EU’s foreign policy-making machinery in Brussels. The paper will firstly look at the institutional relationship between the Commission and EEAS since its beginnings and will explore how it has evolved under HRVP Ashton and Mogherini. Secondly, by employing a unique data-set classifying the nationality, gender and source of recruitment of all up to date Heads of EU Delegations and EEAS management, the paper will examine the nominations and recruitment of former Commission staff in the EEAS vis-à-vis candidates from national diplomatic services. By inquiring what groups of staff occupy which posts, the paper will focus on the issue of who is in charge of the EEAS through the key decision-making channels and whether these nomination processes have changed from Ashton to Mogherini. The paper will conclude whether and where we can observe any real change in terms of interactions between the EEAS and the Commission under HRVP Ashton and Mogherini and whether the other actors than EEAS (such as the Commission itself and EU Member States) help or hinder any progress in this area. The paper will tap into broader questions of whether EU foreign policy remains an intergovernmental affair and what impact individual actors can have on EU institutional structures.