The Lisbon moment : challenges and innovations for EU diplomacy

Abstract

The increasing complexity, interdependence and acceleration of global developments, digital media and the growing share of global public goods, have all contributed to the publicitisation, sectoralisation and summitization of foreign policy worldwide. In this context, the Lisbon Treaty since 2009 has substantially changed the foreign policy organisation and functioning of the European Union. Of all the 20 foreign policy innovations included in the new treaty designed to improve the effectiveness of the Union's foreign policy, the most visible was the creation and progressive development of the European External Action Service. This lecture addresses the efficiency of this core foreign policy area which is being tested by the 21st century's tectonic shift in geo-economics, including the current sovereign debt crisis in the euro-zone.