The Directorate-General for the External Relations (DG RELEX, DG E VIII) was a

Directorate-General Within the European Union, Directorates-General are departments with specific zones of responsibility, the equivalent of ministries at a national level. Most are headed by a European Commissioner, responsible for the general direction of the Dir ...

of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

, responsible for the external policy. The DG was merged into the

European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service and combined foreign and defence ministry of the European Union (EU). The EEAS is led by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP), who is al ...

in 2010, then headed by

High Representative The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held b ...

Catherine Ashton Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, (born 20 March 1956), is a Labour Party (UK), British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of ...

Role

"The Directorate-General for External Relations contributed to the formulation by the

Commissioner for External Relations The European Commissioner for External Relations was a member of the European Commission with responsibility over the Commissions external representation in the world and the European Union's (EU) Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The responsibilit ...

, together with her colleagues of an effective and coherent external relations policy for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

, so as to enable the EU to assert its identity on the international scene." To this end DG RELEX worked closely with other Directorates-General, notably DG Development, DG Enlargement, DG Trade,

EuropeAid Co-Operation Office The Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG International Partnerships or DG INTPA) is the European Commission department responsible for international development policy. It operates under the authority of the European Commissione ...

and European Commission's Humanitarian Office (ECHO). The DG operated the 120 Delegations and Offices around the world. In October 2010 David O'Sullivan was made the last

Director General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

of RELEX (as he then became the first the chief operating officer of the EEAS) and the Deputy Director General was Karel Kovanda (2008). Prior to O'Sullivan taking over, the director-general was Eneko Landaburu (2003-2009), then

João Vale de Almeida João Vale de Almeida (born 29 January 1957 in Lisbon) is a senior European diplomat and Portuguese national, who currently serves as the Ambassador of the European Union to the United Kingdom. Vale de Almeida was Ambassador of the Europea ...

(2009-2010).

Merger

Under the

Lisbon Treaty The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...

, the

(EEAS) took over RELEX's functions, merging them with its counterparts in the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

as of 1 December 2010. Under the second Barroso Commission, the elements of RELEX relating to international climate change negotiations were transferred to the new Climate Action DG. This was in preparation for the merger as not all foreign policy DGs were to be merged but elements of a number. A minor turf war erupted as the Commission attempted to retain control of certain policy areas in the face of EEAS' consolidation. Those areas of RELEX that the commission retains but needs close cooperation with the EEAS were established in a new DG, the

Foreign Policy Instruments Service The Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) is a department (Directorate-General) of the European Commission set up in response to the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS). The EEAS merged the Commission's Directorate ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Directorate-General For External Relations (European Commission) External Relations Foreign relations of the European Union