The European Union's External Affairs Policy – the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – a Favorable Framework for Creating a Single Voice for the European Diplomatic System or Just a New Bureaucratic Structure?

Starting with the Lisbon Treaty, which establishes the new European diplomatic landscape structure, this paper analyses the difference between the objectives expressed in the treaties governing the European Union's foreign policy, and the diplomatic European and international reality. The main objective of this paper is to reveal the extent in which the European Union runs a coherent and unified foreign policy, especially highlighting the problems faced by these institutions in the current international environment, after five years since the creation of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, as well as the European External Action Service The results of this paper show that, although from a legal standpoint it was attempted to clearly outline how the Union's external policies should work, on a practical level, this area still faces difficulties in performing at its full capacity.