• rappresentanza esterna
• Politica Estera e di Sicurezza Comune
• organizzazioni internazionali
• diritto diplomatico
• diritto dell'Unione Europea
• Delegazioni dell'Unione Europea
• ambasciate
• Alto Rappresentante
• Servizio Europeo per l'Azione Esterna
• Trattato di Lisbona

The Treaty of Lisbon strengthened the European toolset concerning the external representation of the EU, enshrining new principles and redrawing the institutional framework. Art. 18 TEU made official the role of the High Representative as chief of the European foreign policy. As a consequence, Decision 2010/427/EU was adopted by the Council with the aim of establishing the European External Action Service, the administrative apparatus and cornerstone of the new diplomatic architecture. In the same respect, art. 221 TFEU turned the ‘Commission Delegations’ into ‘Delegations of the EU’ as a whole, providing them with further State-like competences. Indeed, the praxis of recognizing them as proper diplomatic missions in third States, endowed the EU Delegations with advanced prerogatives in coordinating Member States representatives, sharing information and protecting European Union’s interests around the world. Such an analysis, together with the evaluation of EU’s performance in international fora, will be useful in order to understand how EU Delegations carry out the task of channeling diplomacy towards EU institutions ahead of more coherent and effective decisions in foreign policy. Conclusions will be aimed at understanding to what extent the EU transformed (and will transform) the institution of Diplomacy and what are the chances for reaching a common European ‘corps diplomatique’.