E XECUTIVE S UMMARY At a time when the European Union needs to act as a cohesive force to avoid being outmanoeuvred by major powers, EU countries and institutions are still struggling to set aside their differences and focus on the common interest. Despite significant achievements, one crisis-decade and two High Representatives/ Vice Presidents(HRVPs) on from the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the European External Action Service(EEAS) still suffers from a lack of buy-in from member states and other parts of the EU administration. The tenth anniversary of the Service is an opportune moment to take stock of the EEAS’ contribution to forging a more active, coherent and visible EU foreign policy. The timing for such a debate is particularly apt due to the rapid global geopolitical contestation with which the EU is confronted, a challenge which the European Commission has already embraced, as have member states(for instance in the context of shaping up European defence policy directed by a new‘Strategic Compass’). Building on fruitful research cooperation between SIEPS and CEPS in 2012-13(which led to the publication of a well-received and widely distributed legal commentary on Council Decision 2010/427/EU and a set of recommendations to amend it), our institutes joined forces with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung(FES) to consider how the role and functioning of the EEAS can better serve the common interests of the European Union and fulfil its objectives in external action. Led by the EEAS’ former Executive Secretary General Pierre Vimont, a high-level group of (former) diplomats, officials of EU institutions and member states, as well as NGO representatives, academics and think tankers have conducted an independent review of the first decade of the EEAS’ operation. Considering defects in the Service ’ s original design, learning from experience, and building upon the achievements of the past decade, this report formulates recommendations with a view to improving the EEAS’ functioning and delivery and amplifying its clout, ultimately to(re)invigorate its significance in the development of future EU external action. The first task at hand for the HRVP is to clarify and direct the Service ’ s sense of purpose to forge a distinctly European brand of diplomacy around three core activities: coordination, policy initiation and representation. Such a distinct brand of diplomacy entails the EEAS’ capacity to pioneer and infuse, in all EU policies, the strategic vision and(geo)political direction that will increase the EU’s influence on global developments. The hitherto indeterminate nature of the EEAS’ political mission may play to its advantage, by making it easier for it to adapt to, and deliver on new expectations. Indeed, fast-evolving demands require innovative responses, which the Service could and should provide, given its specific features and the complex Union it serves. This is the added value the EEAS should strive to deliver. It should thus further reap the benefits of its core assets, | i