Institutionalization or Intergovernmental Decision-Taking in Foreign Policy: The Implementation of the Lisbon Treaty

This article analyses the evolving nature of the foreign policy of the European Union (EU) as a consequence of the set-up of new structures such as the office of the High Representative/Vice-President (HR/VP) and the European External Action Service (EEAS). It argues that while decision-taking in Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) remains intergovernmental for the most part, the strengthened power of initiative granted to the new services has introduced critical changes in EU foreign policy-making.

The first developments under the Lisbon Treaty hint a process of institutionalization by practice in EU foreign policy initiative, which relates to the personalities at the top of new EU structures, the changes of procedures in the elaboration of policy papers and meeting agendas, and the management of crisis situations. This process of institutionalization by practice, as well as the reaction of EU Member States to it, is examined particularly with regard to the working relations between the new foreign policy structures and the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the EU.