Berlin and Paris Want to Remove Kalas from the Post with a Budget of One Billion Euros 0 16

France and Germany are discussing proposals for a radical reform of the European External Action Service (EEAS) - the EU's diplomatic body - in an attempt to improve the bloc's response to geopolitical crises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Thursday, June 11, citing five senior officials. According to the publication's sources, Paris, Berlin, and other capitals are considering options that include stripping the bloc's chief diplomat, Kaia Kalas, and her service, which has a budget of €1 billion a year, of their powers and returning those powers to the European Commission and member states.

"It is clear that the EEAS is not functioning as it should in today's world. It is dysfunctional. The problem is structural, and therefore the structure needs to be rebuilt," one official stated.

In recent years, the EU has faced upheavals due to wars against Ukraine and Iran, actions by U.S. President Donald Trump, and the increasing use of tariffs, economic pressure, and energy supplies as tools of foreign policy. Many question the EEAS's ability to coordinate effective responses to these challenges.

Limiting the Chief Diplomat's Autonomy

One of the ideas proposed by Paris is to limit the autonomy of the chief diplomat, who currently performs a dual role, accountable to member states and the European Commission, and to weaken their control over a network of more than 140 delegations that the EEAS maintains in various countries.

"Capitals are frustrated and want an effective way to act as a united front on the international stage. There is a real risk that the EEAS will be torn apart," another official said.

Reform Without Changing the Treaty

Proponents of restructuring the European diplomatic service believe that it can be done without changing the EU treaty, which states that the EEAS "should assist" the chief diplomat on terms agreed upon by member states and dated 2010. Any changes to these terms would require unanimous support from the 27 EU member states.

Several countries have privately argued that there is too much duplication and a lack of coordination between the EEAS, national foreign ministries, and the external relations directorates of the European Commission and the EU Council, FT sources explained.

These concerns have been heightened by the fact that Kalas has apparently been expressing her own opinions on issues such as EU-China relations and making proposals that have not yet been approved by the capitals.

Struggle for Leadership

At the same time, the EEAS and the European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, are engaged in a struggle for leadership on foreign policy and security issues.

Von der Leyen - a former German defense minister - has gone beyond the traditional parameters of her role, managing a self-proclaimed "geopolitical Commission," appointing the bloc's first commissioner for defense, and regularly taking the lead in the bloc's response to Russia's war in Ukraine.

She has also explored the possibility of creating an intelligence-sharing unit similar to the one that already exists in the EEAS, an idea that Kalas opposes.

The Budget Factor

Three officials told FT that the reform of the EEAS may also depend on ongoing negotiations over the next overall budget of the bloc, where many member states are demanding budget cuts and process optimization in Brussels.

Transferring powers from the EEAS to directorates within the European Commission and the Council could save funds by reducing positions, officials said. For example, the drafting of sanctions lists and proposals for military missions could be handed over to the EU Council, while day-to-day diplomacy would be managed by the European Commission.

Ideas for reforming the EU's foreign policy service are also being considered in the development of a new security strategy that the European Commission plans to publish this summer, two officials reported.