Building Foreign Affairs Capacity in the Eu: The Recruitment of Member State Officials to the European External Action Service (Eeas)

Abstract

The Treaty of Lisbon introduced common action capacities in the EU's external relations administration, notably the European External Action Service (EEAS). One essential capacity is staff resources. This article analyses to what extent and under what conditions the practice of staff recruitment to the EEAS is independent of government influence, and in particular the recruitment of officials temporarily assigned from EU member states. The data draw on interviews with officials from all 27 member states as well as the EEAS which is charged with the selection of national public servants to the EEAS. Key findings suggest substantial independence of recruitment to the EEAS, and this independence is facilitated under two particular conditions: (i) the supply of administrative capacities at EU level strengthens the capacity of the EEAS to nurture the independent recruitment of its personnel; and (ii) the recruitment of EEAS personnel is conditioned by pre‐existing organizational traditions, practices, and formats.

On Trojan Horses and revolving doors: Assessing the autonomy of national officials in the European Commission

“…It might therefore be of significant interest in future studies to assess in greater detail the relative importance of these various considerations in order to explain the general high importance attached by member states to the appointment of their nationals within international bureaucracies (Murdoch et al. ; Trondal et al. ), and to top jobs in the Commission (Ban : 103; Kassim et al.…”

Institutional Dynamics in International Organizations: Lessons from the Recruitment Procedures of the European External Action Service

“…From a policy perspective, studying changing recruitment processes provides one way to elucidate shifting objectives and aims of organisations (and its members). The reason is that hiring procedures directly affect the profile of any organisation's officials and, as such, critically shape the basic features of ensuing decision-making patterns (Meier and Nigro 1976;Murdoch et al 2014a). This also holds in the diplomatic field, such that 'who is -or should be -involved in [diplomacy] and what forms and practices it should assume' becomes a fundamental question for any diplomatic service (Hocking et al 2012: 9).…”

“…That is, following Johnston (2005, p. 1029), we view ‘individuals as national agents’. This reflects the idea that member states generally have explicit or implicit guidelines shaping the conduct of their officials, or may develop gatekeeping activities (Duke & Lange, 2013; Murdoch et al, 2014a). Such home country influence is particularly likely in our setting as we study the diplomatic field.…”

“…Note also that MFAs could exploit their role as providers of this critical document to influence which of their staff were able to apply. Murdoch et al (2014a) as well as Duke and Lange (2013) indicate that at least some Member States effectively take up this role as 'gatekeepers'. 6 Due to time constraints, two respondents provided written answers to the questions in the interview guide.…”

“…Firstly, recruitment processes are important for any organisation's internal functioning and decision-making, since they determine the profile of its officials and thereby shape the basic features of, and preferences embedded in, its decision-making behaviour (Meier and Nigro 1976;Murdoch et al 2014a). 2 Hence, all actors involved are likely to have a strong desire to influence them (see, for instance, David [2007] for an excellent study of member states' strategic interference in the recruitment processes of international bureaucrats).…”