557 Natividad Fernández Sola The proposed reform of the european external actions service and its implications for the european union‘s security policy If a CFSP initiative is designed to impose sanctions, the Commission’s sanction team as well as that of the EEAS are involved in the decision-making process. Following the creation of the EEAS an integration of the two teams would be desirable, although legally problematic62. 2.7. The EEAS and a comprehensive approach to EU foreign policy Today, the Common Security and Defence Policy is the sum of many vectors; many of them working in opposite directions of varying force and intensity. They represent not only the interests of the member States, but also the orientation of the various institutions of the EU. The decision resulting from this tension of forces reveal which of them is dominant, but reduces their content depending on the opposing or completely different vectors; in other words, the result is not always the fruit of a comprehensive approach with a common European strategic interest as its axis. The deficiencies we have referred to in terms of structure and functioning of the EEAS impact negatively on the necessary comprehensive approach to foreign policy and, in particular, of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy. A comprehensive approach that requires coordination between crisis management and the other directorates of the service, between the directorate and the Commission, coordination with the Member States in Brussels and on the ground and the agile use of all available instruments at the Union’s disposal. These deficiencies were evident, for example, in the Commission’s opposition to the existence of a thematic Directorate in the EEAS on energy security63, despite consensus on the existence of this type of structure alongside the geographic departments. A comprehensive approach on security and defence policy can be translated operationally into procedures for crisis management, which have been the subject of a limited review which was not directly reflected in the EEAS’s organisation chart, but in the modus operandi in these cases. A review of existing crisis manage-ment procedures is explained by the establishment of the CPCC, the CMPD, the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and the creation of the EEAS, along with the expertise and practice accumulated over a period of over ten years; all of which did not exist when the original procedures were drawn up in 2003. The ultimate goal is 62 PORTELA, Clara, “Sanctions and the Balance of Competences”, Review of Balance of Competences, United Kingdom Government, February 2013, https://www.gov.uk/government/up-loads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/224432/evidence-clara-portela.pdf 63 Energy security is the subject of foreign policy debate, and not just energy policies, given their political and economic conditioning factors. The relevant services of the Commission (energy and neighbourhood) and of the EEAS, in particular the Middle East Directorates I and II, Russia and the South Mediterranean should combine efforts in this area. Prior to that, Member States with stances on the issue should establish a common strategy with the main energy providers of the Union: Russia, Central Asia, Mediterranean countries and the Middle East.
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