Abstract

Chris Kendall is going to talk about the role of the EU’s newly-created European External Action Service (‘EEAS’) and how it adds value to the work done by national diplomatic services of the EU’s member states. Based on his experience, he will focus on two case studies: the Arab Spring, and the Eastern Partnership (the EU’s relations with its eastern neighbours). He will critically review the EU’s activities, exploring the impact of EU’s policies and how this compares with EU Member States acting alone. Chris will also share his analysis of Moscow’s recent reactions to the EU’s increasingly active role in the former Soviet Union. Finally, he will give us his views on what would have to happen for the EEAS to realise its full potential as the EU’s “foreign ministry”.

Speaker’s Bio: Chris joined the European Commission in 1995 after studying Classics at Oxford University and winning a place in the UK Civil Service’s “European Fast Stream”. During his career as a European civil servant, he has conducted trade negotiations with Japan on car imports, negotiated an agreement with industry on carbon dioxide emissions, served in the Cabinet of a Finnish European Commissioner, and spent four years posted to the Commission’s Delegation in Canada as the Political Counsellor. In 2010, after serving as the Commission’s coordinator for the EU Political and Security Committee, he was seconded to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London where he led on the EU’s response to the Arab Spring. He returned to Brussels in 2012 to join the new European External Action Service where he is responsible for the EU’s relations with the countries of the South Caucasus. Chris divides his time between London and Brussels.