The Missing Link: The Non-europeanization of Foreign Services

There is a missing link in the European Union’s foreign policy capability: There is no integrated European organization of diplomacy. Ever since 1970 the construction of a European foreign service executive has remained disentangled from the reforms of national foreign services. In this article the author first defines the concept of foreign service Europeanization. He then reviews the development and the interplay of foreign service organization across three polities - the European Union, France and Germany – and across three decades (1970 and 2001). The author argues that governments have chosen the most expensive strategy of European foreign service organization conceivable. They have not chosen the most effective one.