The European Union’s External Action Service

The EU’s international representation under the primary law now in force, and the way it has so far been put into practice both by the EU and previously by the European Community, are clear reflections of the institutional complexity and partial integration –by sectors and in different phases– experienced since its creation. Today, this representation can be three-fold, carried out by the European Commission, the Council and the Member States. Within the second of these, it can be implemented by two different bodies: the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Presidency