EU’s diplomatic service faces staffing, feedback challenges, auditors say

EU diplomats working in Brussels and abroad face staffing challenges, not receiving enough guidance from headquarters and struggle with intelligence and information sharing due to slow and opaque computer systems, according to a new report by the bloc’s internal auditors.

While the EU’s diplomatic service works “efficiently” with the different institutions, it needs to provide better support to the bloc’s delegations abroad, according to the report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) published on Tuesday (30 January).

EU auditors assessed whether the service’s coordinating role between September 2021 and March 2023 was effective internally at its headquarters in Brussels, with EU delegations around the world, as well as with the European Commission and the Council.

In a survey of EU ambassadors, several highlighted the understaffing problem, especially in their political sections, but some also reported imbalances.

Some 60% of survey respondents felt that the EEAS’s human resources were not commensurate with the level of tasks assigned to the delegations.

In the case of European Commission staff delegated to missions abroad, the proportion is lower at 30%.

“We’re not recommending that the service as a whole is understaffed, but that they review where the resources are allocated,” an EU auditor who worked on the file told Euractiv.

“What we recommend is to adjust the staffing to political priorities where necessary,” they added.

In 2022, EU funding for the EU’s diplomatic service – which includes its headquarters, delegations abroad and approximately 8100 staff – was over €1 billion.

EU officials have voiced concerns that due to budget constraints, the service could face a cut in resources for the current budgetary cycle.

Not enough feedback

At the same time, EU auditors found delegations are not receiving enough feedback or guidance from their headquarters on planning and political reporting.

This would include a lack of feedback or perceived disconnect from the Brussels headquarters regarding annual planning and some EU ambassadors not receiving mission letters for their mandate.

“A lot of the delegations felt that they were a ‘one-way’ street in terms of them providing information but getting no feedback,” the EU auditor on the file told Euractiv.

Only 35% of survey respondents in the EU delegations said Brussels headquarters would “usually” provide them with useful feedback on political reporting, compared to 52% that said this is “sometimes” and 13% that said it is “never” the case.

“It’s [easy] to say that your ambassadors are not providing enough information if (…) there’s no feedback, it leads to demotivation,” the EU auditor added.

Observers have long pointed out the problem inherited from the EU’s diplomatic service structure.

In a rare public rebuke, EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell two years ago chided a room full of the bloc’s envoys that considering the many crises facing the EU, its delegations need to be alert 24 hours but are often ‘too slow’ in reporting back to Brussels.

His comments then came at a time of mounting criticism over the lack of communication between Brussels and its EU diplomatic missions across the globe.

In the past, several EU delegation diplomats had told EURACTIV they were also frustrated with how the home base in Brussels has dealt with their reports, often not considering country expertise.

Slow and clunky IT systems

At the same time, EU auditors also warned the bloc’s diplomats struggle to access or share sensitive or classified information due to slow and opaque computer systems.

The EU’s diplomatic service “lacks tools for effective collaboration and knowledge management,” and “IT shortcomings also hamper the sharing” of information, the report stated.

Just under half of officials surveyed at the EU’s 145 delegations said they lacked usable IT tools to share sensitive documents securely with other EU institutions.

“We found information management had weaknesses, some areas were not fit for purpose,” the EU auditor said.

“But to be very clear, we’re not saying that the systems are leaking or prone to leaks are insecure, but that the security measures in place make them cumbersome to use, and therefore there’s a risk they are bypassed and not used,” they added.

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