Archive - Conference Papers

The paper analyses the European Parliament's (EP) growing role in EU's foreign policy in the aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty. Using a principal-agent as its theoretical framework, the paper focuses on the negotiations for the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS) as well as the preparation for the EEAS mid-term review. The paper begins by providing an overview of the legal framework surrounding the creation and operationalization of the EEAS. Second, it discusses the EEAS' inter-institutional relations with EU actors with an emphasis on EEAS-EP relations. Third, the paper follows with an analysis of the EP's EEAS mid-term review paper. Methodologically speaking, the investigation is based on the analysis of relevant EU official documents, secondary literature and interviews with EU officials. Ultimately, main objective of this study is to conceptualise the EP in PA terms while trying to determine whether the EP could be considered as a new principal in the EU's new institutional balance. In so doing, the paper not only seeks to give added value to the under-researched study area of PA analysis in EU foreign policy fora but also to contribute to the under-development engagement of PA scholars with the European Parliament.