Publication

The establishment of the new senior posts comes as the major innovation in the EU’s institutional architecture under the Lisbon Treaty. It has considerable consequences for the system of EU presidency and external representation, one of the motives being the elimination of the adverse aspects of the rotating presidency. The new positions have the potential for streamlining the EU’s decision-making process and its external actions, but obviously much will depend on how the political practice will shape the new institutional relations with the Commission, the Council and, especially, with the rotating presidency. These dilemmas have not been resolved by the nominations of Catherine Ashton and Herman Van Rompuy.