EU countries consider major overhaul of bloc’s diplomatic service

The European Union’s diplomatic corps, a sprawling apparatus with more than 140 delegations worldwide, is facing an existential reckoning. EU member states are actively discussing whether to dismantle or radically restructure the European External Action Service, the bloc’s foreign policy arm that has operated as an independent institution since 2010.

The conversations, reported by the Financial Times, reflect growing frustration among national capitals with the EEAS’s ability to coordinate coherent responses to the geopolitical crises that have defined the last several years. Support for Ukraine, relations with Iran, managing the fallout from an increasingly assertive Russia: the diplomatic service has drawn criticism on multiple fronts for moving too slowly through too much bureaucracy.

What’s actually on the table

The proposals being floated range from surgical tweaks to full-scale demolition. On the more dramatic end, some member states are pushing to fold the EEAS’s operations entirely back into the European Commission, effectively reversing the institutional experiment that created it in the first place.

Another proposal on the table involves creating a dedicated “EU foreign minister” role. The bloc already has a High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, currently the top diplomatic post, but the discussion centers on whether a more empowered position with clearer authority could cut through the coordination problems that have plagued European foreign policy.

On the structural side, there’s talk of consolidating the EEAS’s global network of regional delegations into roughly 18 hubs, down from the current footprint of more than 140 offices.

Plans also include a modest staffing reduction, with around 100 positions slated for elimination by 2027.

Why now

Europe’s security environment has shifted dramatically since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the EEAS has struggled to keep pace with the urgency that member states feel about defense and foreign policy coordination.

A corruption scandal involving EEAS leadership that surfaced in late 2025 has damaged the service’s credibility at precisely the moment it needs institutional defenders.

The informal high-level negotiations among EU diplomats have been ongoing since at least April 2026, according to reporting on the discussions. One procedural change under consideration would elevate foreign policy discussions within Coreper meetings, the gatherings of member states’ permanent representatives to the EU that serve as the engine room for Council decision-making.

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