The following master thesis explores a potential merger of national diplomatic missions with EU diplomatic missions in third countries. EU is facing great challenges. Further political integration could unite member states into a more unified actor on international stage., A more appropriate institutional and diplomatic structure is needed for this unity to last. In the first part of this master thesis some key concepts of diplomacy and European foreign policy are discussed. Furthermore, the historical background of diplomacy, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and European foreign policy are described. A more detailed breakdown of the EEAS follows, where the structure of the institution, financial and human resource aspects can be found. Additionally, the structure, mandate, role and jurisdictions of EU diplomatic missions are elaborated on. In the empirical part of the thesis, a plan for a merger of national diplomatic missions with the EU’s is presented. Further details of their structure, jurisdiction, role of national missions within the joint EU diplomatic mission and infrastructure of the joint mission are discussed. To analyse the current political stance about such merger a questionnaire was formed and sent to all diplomatic and consular missions of the EU member states in Slovenia. An analysis of those results showed an interesting view of the ambassadors and consuls regarding this topic.
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