The article analyses the evolution of European diplomacy over two decades, to assess the impact of the European External Action Service (EEAS) creation alongside consecutive waves of enlargement. Data is drawn from two original datasets about European Union (EU) member states’ diplomatic representations within the EU and across the globe. It shows that member states have maintained and strengthened their substantial diplomatic footprint across the EU’s territory, expanding it to include new members and making Brussels a diplomatic hub also for non-member countries. In parallel, and despite the establishment of the EEAS, member states have maintained and even increased their networks of diplomatic representations across the globe, alongside more numerous and more politically active EU Delegations (EUDs). At the same time, member states have been reducing their diplomats’ numbers, as the cases of Austria, France, Germany and Italy show. This delicate balancing act has been made possible not only by contemporary technological developments, but also by European cooperation, as in the case of EUDs hosting member states’ representations in non-member countries, a development referred to as co-location. Therefore, whereas the continued presence of national embassies on the ground could be interpreted as detracting from the EEAS, the existence of EUDs contributes also to other, more indirect but certainly novel, forms of diplomatic cooperation under a single European roof.

本文分析了欧洲外交在过去二十年中的演变，以评估欧洲对外行动服务（EEAS）的创建以及连续不断的扩张浪潮的影响。数据来自关于欧盟成员国在欧盟内以及全球范围内的外交代表关系的两个原始数据集。它表明，成员国在整个欧盟领土上保持并加强了其实质性的外交足迹，将其扩大到包括新成员在内，并使布鲁塞尔成为非成员国的外交枢纽。同时，尽管建立了EEAS，但各成员国仍在全球范围内维持甚至扩大了外交代表网络，同时还有更多和政治上活跃的欧盟代表团（EUD）。同时，奥地利，法国，德国和意大利的情况表明，成员国一直在减少其外交官人数。这种微妙的平衡行为不仅由于当代技术的发展，而且由于欧洲的合作而成为可能，例如，在欧盟成员国在非成员国中接待成员国代表的欧洲共同体的情况下，这种发展被称为“同一地点”。因此，尽管各国驻外使馆的继续存在可以被解释为不利于欧洲，中东和非洲，但欧洲共同体的存在也促进了在单一欧洲屋檐下其他，更间接但肯定是新颖的外交合作形式。而且还可以通过欧洲合作来实现，例如EUD在非成员国中接待成员国代表的EUD就是所谓的共址。因此，尽管各国驻外使馆的继续存在可以被解释为不利于欧洲，中东和非洲，但欧洲共同体的存在也促进了在单一欧洲屋檐下其他，更间接但肯定是新颖的外交合作形式。而且还可以通过欧洲合作来实现，例如EUD在非成员国中接待成员国代表的EUD就是所谓的共址。因此，尽管各国驻外使馆的继续存在可以被解释为不利于欧洲，中东和非洲，但欧洲共同体的存在也促进了在单一欧洲屋檐下其他，更间接但肯定是新颖的外交合作形式。