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552 Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos Núm. 2 / 2013 European citizens in cases of natural disasters or political emergencies. Nevertheless, recent cases (Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen) highlight the fact that the Member States coordinate their efforts, but do not act jointly – as a European Union-. A possible innovation in the reform of the EEAS would be to introduce a body that would link up Delegations, working bi-directionally and coordinating with the general guidelines of the EU’s foreign policy in the region and globally. As regards the diplomatic missions of the Member States, their cooperation with the EEAS is provided for in the Treaty (articles 32 and 35 TUE and 221 TFUE). This relatively weak link could be described as circumstantial for various reasons. Firstly, in view of the efforts of the EU Delegations in involving the Mission Heads of the various national Embassies in the search for common positions and, to a certain extent in European decision-making concerning that particular country. Secondly, on account of the progressive adaptation of the Member States to the existence of a new representative body of the Union as a whole, the EEAS, and to certain EU Delegations in third countries and to international Organisations which, rather than carrying out the role of traditional national diplomacy, constitute an efficient complement to the diplomatic work of the Member States; this formula should provide for a slow transfer of all tasks that can be jointly managed 48. In spite of this, a clearer, more unmistakeable definition of the respective tasks of the national and European diplomatic services is necessary and a greater coordination between the EEAS and the national diplomatic missions as well as with the Delegations of the EU. 2.4. Intelligence capacity within the EEAS One of the key questions for the planning of an efficient foreign policy is to have at one’s disposal the best information on international affairs. The question has been raised as to how the mere fact that a third of the staff in the Service comes from the Member States could contribute towards an increase of the Union’s “political intelligence ” given that the EEAS should be in the best place to provide political information, as a common service for all Member States and European institutions 49. The EU delegations also have staff for the development of economic intelligence. Within the central bodies, the EU Centre of Intelligence Analysis (IntCen), 48  Spain would transfer its Embassy in Yemen to the offices of the EU Delegation in Sana’a at the end of 2012. A few months previously, Luxembourg had transferred its embassy in Ethiopia to the EU Delegation in the country. Memorandum of Understanding 10 December 2012, Press A 568/12, Brussels, 10 December 2012. 49  Enlargement provides the EU with language capacity, principally in Russian, which is very useful for sharing information.


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