BRUSSELS — The European Commission is pushing plans to dramatically cut the number of people working at many of its embassies to beef up staffing in countries where it feels the bloc has a strategic interest, according to a document obtained by POLITICO.
That’s creating concern the European Union will lose diplomatic heft in regions like Africa and Latin America.
“We would be leaving a tiny delegation in places like Sudan or Niger, that’s just the wrong message, especially when we have a U.S. administration that seems less interested in the outside world,” said an EU official, speaking on condition of being granted anonymity.
A second official said that in internal chats about this project “there are clear worries that Russia or China could fill any vacuum we create.”
The proposed cuts come after the EU’s External Action Service (EEAS), the bloc’s diplomatic arm, blew past its budget for 2024. It was on track to do even worse next year thanks to rising costs and inflation, forcing reductions.
“Maintaining the status quo is not an option,” said the document, marked “SENSITIVE.” It added: “The EU is in need of a Delegation Network that is better suited to the new political and policy priorities … This has to be achieved within a constrained budgetary context.”
The bloc has 145 delegation offices around the world that function as EU embassies. The goal is to focus on countries “where the EU’s primary interests lie.”
The EU’s civil servants have been cooking up ideas to have a more “targeted approach” toward its embassies. Brussels is thinking about countries aiming to join the EU or which lie in the bloc’s immediate neighborhood, G20 countries, emerging “political and economic powers” and countries where “instability poses a threat to [the] EU’s interests.”
The Commission’s view is that the reform fits into the Global Gateway project, the EU’s answer to China’s web of trade and infrastructure projects spanning the globe. If Brussels wants to do better in reaching out to third countries, “we need to review the organizational setup,” a senior Commission official said.
But critics of the reform point out that EU foreign policy cannot be reduced to the Global Gateway.
Resource squeeze
Strengthening the EU’s diplomatic footprint in those countries means Brussels has to partly pull out of other places. Delegations in many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America would be much more limited, according to a list seen by POLITICO.
In Africa, for example, the EU is considering limiting its presence in over 30 countries. In Latin America, even a major power like Brazil is on the cutback list.
The idea is not to close any of the 145 delegations but to consolidate larger numbers of diplomats into regional centers. “Maintaining the network with its current coverage is important,” the document reads.
At the same time, the EU wants to step up its global outreach amid a second Donald Trump presidency, Russia’s war in Ukraine and accusations of double standards toward the war in Ukraine and the war in the Middle East.
The proposed cutbacks come despite the EU’s 2019 promise of a “pivot to Africa.” Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, visited Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia and seat of the African Union, on her first trip abroad to underscore the importance of the EU’s continental neighbor. But since then, Europe has struggled to keep up momentum in the relationship.
Some EU officials fear retrenching embassies will only make things worse.
“If we leave just a head of delegation and a chauffeur then it’s just wrong,” said the first EU official.
A third official talked about “strange ideas floating around,” like creating a hub in India that will also handle its arch-rival Pakistan.
To cut costs, the EU is also proposing that overlapping foreign delegations for bodies such as the European Investment Bank or European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations be consolidated with EEAS missions.
Two other officials pointed out that almost 800 local officers risked being abandoned as it would be very hard or impossible to relocate them in another country. If the change goes through, the EU’s new top diplomat Kaja Kallas would have to handle massive layoffs just as she starts her term.
Some of the EU’s smaller members are keeping a close eye on the proposed reform. They often don’t have extensive networks of national embassies, so rely on the EU’s outposts for intelligence and access to foreign officials.
The recommendations will be discussed in December by Kallas and the new European Commission.
“It’s the usual thing, these ideas get floated by INTPA when there’s a vacuum on the top of the External Service,” said one of the officials, referring to the Commission’s branch that deals with international partnerships.
The idea is seeing some pushback from within the External Action Service.
“We are in a situation where the budget is limited, so all ideas have to be put on the table but this idea is not ripe,” an EEAS official said.
Peter Stano, an EEAS spokesperson, said: “Any strategic decision on the network of EU Delegations will depend on the guidance provided by” Kallas and the College of Commissioners.
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