Negotiating the European External Action Service (EEAS): Analyzing the External Effects of Internal (Dis)Agreement

Analyses of the rising capacity for co‐ordination within the Secretariats‐General of the European Commission and Council have concentrated on their effects within these respective institutions. This article, in contrast, argues that the presence/absence of co‐ordination capacities developed within an institution may have an important bearing also on the relations between institutions (for example, in inter‐institutional negotiations). The empirical analysis traces the negotiation process leading up to the creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS), and finds substantial support for the theoretical argument.