The EU's diplomatic unit is ready to cut about 10 foreign delegations and reduce approximately 100 local staff amid budget cuts and larger-scale reshuffles, citing a document and two officials familiar with the plans, Politico reports, UNN writes.
Details
Last Wednesday, EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas presented a plan to reorganize the European External Action Service (EEAS) to top European Commission officials. She received a "green light" from them to carry out the reorganization, which will be carried out over the next two years, officials said.
According to the first official, the delegations targeted for cuts are in countries where the EU no longer feels a strong interest in sending a significant number of diplomats and staff, such as Belarus or Lesotho. The bloc's priorities are shifting from development aid to achieving strategic interests, such as ensuring sanctions compliance or defense partnerships, with resources being redirected to follow-up actions, the same official said.
While the EEAS does not plan to officially close any of its 144 foreign delegations, about 10 will be reduced to core staff, such as the ambassador and one or two assistants, and local staff will be gradually laid off, both officials said. As part of these changes, some delegations will receive more staff.
As noted, the bloc is now seeking to focus more narrowly on strategic interests, such as engaging with governments that have a say in enforcing EU sanctions against Russia. As a result, delegations in countries that are critical to ensuring sanctions compliance, such as those that provide flags to Russian "shadow fleet" ships, may face increased staffing, according to one of the people briefed on the plans.
About 100 local staff are likely to be cut in two phases in 2026 and 2027, the second source said.
Reducing a delegation to core staff who will work from home rather than from an EU office is tantamount to closing those delegations, the person added.
The cuts coincide with budget cuts affecting some EU institutions. Previously, the plan to cut the EEAS, as indicated, involved much larger cuts - up to 800 staff.
This version of the plan, the content of which will be brought to the attention of key staff in the coming days, according to the new document, calls for softer cuts. The restructuring will cost the EU approximately €20 million in the first year, followed by savings of €9 million over the next three years, one of the officials said.
However, the second official warned that cuts beyond what is outlined in the Kallas plan may be brewing as part of negotiations on the EU's long-term budget, the multiannual financial framework.
More broadly, the budget cuts in the EU reflect member states' limited appetite for increased contributions to Brussels institutions, as well as a desire to free up resources for defense-related projects, the publication writes.