Role and position of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy under the Lisbon Treaty

Abstract

The creation of the function of the “High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy” (the “High Representative”) in Article 18 TEU-L appears to be one of the newest aspects introduced by the Lisbon Treaty.1 This new position com-bines the competences of the present High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and of the Commissioner for External Relations. In fact the Lisbon Treaty includes practically the same provisions regarding the Common Foreign and Security policy (CFSP) and the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) as the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, with only minor changes. The “Union Minister for Foreign Affairs” is renamed “High Representative”. The change in the title is purely cosmetic or purely symbolic in the sense that it aims to dispel the fears related to the terms evoking the image of a ‘constitution’ or of a ‘state’ that led in part to the objections raised in France and in the Netherlands to the Constitutional Treaty.