The intergovernmental branch of the EU's foreign affairs executive reflections on the political and security committee

Abstract

Among the Lisbon Treaty's reform steps the reconfiguration of the Union's external representation assumes a central role. It is often referred to as one of the Treaty's most prominent achievements which allows Europe to move beyond institutional introspection and concentrate on 'reinforcing the European identity and its independence in order to promote peace, security and progress in Europe and in the world'.It remains to be tested whether the new institutional architecture permits the Union to translate the Treaty's grand declaration into specific policy actions. Definite answers may so far not yet have been given. Our legal analysis may, however, shed light on the role of the political and security committee, thereby identifying both the executive character of the Union's foreign policy powers and their continued intergovernmentalism.