(R E ) APPRAISING THE PURPOSE OF THE EEAS| 7 At the same time, the coordinating role of the HRVP within the European Commission hinges on the way in which that responsibility is defined by the President of the Commission, which in turn determines the actual remit of the EEAS. Similarly, cohering member states’ positions in the Council and in its working groups depends on their willingness and interests to be coordinated. It is contingent more generally on member states’ commitment to act through the Union on foreign policy matters, especially since the HR and the EEAS lack the(legal) teeth of the Commission to secure implementation and compliance in other areas of EU external relations. Policy initiation: the EEAS as a factory of ideas In substantive terms, the External Action Service acts as policy initiator in support of the HRVP. Having inherited the Council’s services dealing with CFSP and CSDP, the EEAS covers topics customarily falling within the purview of both MFAs(ministries of foreign affairs) and ministries of defence. The Service assists the High Representative in promoting and defending EU positions, values, interests and strategies, both internally(by coordinating 27 member states’ actions notably in the Council), and externally by ensuring effective use of EU/common financial and political instruments available, through, for example, démarches, statements, visits, international negotiations, and in providing support for EU citizens, through EUDs(EU delegations). Such interlocutions are perhaps nowhere as acutely important as in peace mediation. The Service equally prepares the EU’s sanctions policy and to that end, assists economic operators and administrations of governments of both member states and third countries with guidance on notifications and reporting questions. As mentioned above, the Service also assists the HR as VP in relation to all external policies initiated by the Commission(trade, climate, digital, for example). Beyond coordination, the EEAS builds on and embeds different policy considerations and interests in a broader strategic and political context, framed by EU objectives and principles. These are potentially drawn up by the European Council, and fed by its own intelligence and situational awareness, both from within(cf. the geographic and thematic managing directorates supported by EU.INTCEN and EUMS.INT acting as the Single Intelligence Analysis Capacity/SIAC), and through the EU delegations in the field. The EEAS’ role is thus to articulate the(geo)politics of EU policies. The strategic policy planning division is the Service’s in-house think tank that is tasked with engaging in innovative foresight analysis to prepare the EU for longer-term policy action. Taken together, the EEAS is expected to articulate a distinct European approach, complementing and adding value to the member states’ own positions, as a basis for initiatives floated by the High Representative. Access to specific and complementary intelligence held by other protagonists, and therefore their support and cooperation, is essential for the EEAS to perform this task too. Rather than attempting to duplicate them, the EEAS is in a position to tap into all the resources available to the EU system of external action: both across the institutional framework(for instance through its umbilical links with the Commission and the Council), and at the level of the member states