"The High Representative for CFSP and the personification of EU foreign relations"

Melis, Demetrios G. (2001) "The High Representative for CFSP and the personification of EU foreign relations". In: UNSPECIFIED, Madison, Wisconsin. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The paper examines the creation of the High Representative in the context of two salient prior examples of this ongoing competition between European Union (EU) Member-States and the Commission. The first example is the European Commission's endeavors to increase its institutional role and international profile in the EU's foreign relations through the personal participation of individual Commissioners. In addition to the Commission President's representation of the European community within international fora, the Commission's portfolios have been repeatedly reformed to emphasize the Commission's role in the EU's external political relations, first symbolized by the post-Maastricht creation of a Commissioner for CFSP. The second example is the recent creation of EU Special Envoys. These limited foreign policy actors are essentially policy instruments of the Council, being appointed, controlled and maintained by Council action. The paper concludes by applying a theoretical perspective of this phenomenon by comparing Neo-Realist theory with a Historical Institutionalist (HI) approach. Particular attention will be paid to the HI assertion that EU Member-State policy-making can be constrained over time by past decisions within the same collective decision-making framework.

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