European External Action Service Revenue and Competitors

The European External Action Service (‘EEAS’) is a functionally autonomous body of the European Union under the authority of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The EEAS supports the High Representative, who is also a Vice-President of the Commission and the President of the Foreign Affairs Council, in fulfilling his/her mandate to conduct the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the Union and to ensure the consistency of the Union’s external action. The EEAS is made up of a central administration and of the EU Delegations. The EU maintains diplomatic relations with nearly all countries in the world. It has strategic partnerships with key international players, is deeply engaged with emerging powers around the globe, and has signed bilateral Association Agreements with a number of states in its vicinity. Abroad, the Union is represented by a network of 136 EU Delegations, which have a similar function to those of an embassy. The EEAS supports, and works in cooperation with, the diplomatic services of the Member States, as well as with the General Secretariat of the Council and the services of the Commission, in order to ensure consistency between the different areas of the Union’s external action and between those areas and its other policies. The EEAS also assists the President of the European Council, the President of the Commission, and the Commission in the exercise of their respective functions in the area of external relations.