EEAS unlikely to include development and humanitarian aid.

Brussels, 23/05/08: Ambassadors from the EU’s member states have reached broad agreement on the future scope of the Union’s diplomatic corps, which is being created by the Treaty of Lisbon. However, there are still considerable differences of opinion over the size of the future European External Action Service (EEAS) and over its relationship with the European Commission and the secretariat of the Council of Ministers.

The EEAS will serve the future High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, with staff drawn from the Commission, the Council secretariat and the foreign ministries of the member states. According to recent reports, the EEAS would incorporate all posts from the external relations department of the European Commission but would exclude the trade department as well as the departments for managing development aid and humanitarian aid.

Source: European Voice