EU diplomats and the making of European Foreign Policy

This paper provides an analysis of the roles and attitudes of EU diplomats, focusing on three sets of officials involved in the making of EU Foreign Policy: national diplomats from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and officials working in the Council Secretariat of the EU and the European External Action Service. In doing so, it provides us with an understanding of EU diplomacy from the perspective of the officials themselves. Drawing of quantitative and qualitative evidence, this study seeks to elucidate who EU diplomats are in terms of nationality, gender, educational and professional background, etc. It also explores officials’ identification with the EU and their views on what the role of the EU should be in world politics. The paper also reveals interesting differences amongst EU diplomats as to how they perceive both their individual and institutional roles; in other words, the roles that their institutions of origin (EEAS, Foreign Affairs Ministries, Council Secretariat) and they themselves play in the making of European Foreign Policy. Finally, the paper investigates several factors that, explain officials’ levels of identification and different attitudinal trends, such as nationality, duration of tenure, whether they are national seconded or civil servants or previous domestic and international experience.