Directorate-General For External Relations (European Commission) - Merger

Merger

Under the Lisbon Treaty, the European External Action Service (EEAS) took over RELEX's functions, merging them with its counterparts in the Council of the European Union as of 1 December 2010. Under the second Barroso Commission, the elements of RELEX relating to international climate change negotiations were transferred to the new Climate Action DG. This was in preparation for the merger as not all foreign policy DGs were to be merged but elements of a number. A minor turf war erupted as the Commission attempted to retain control of certain policy areas in the face of EEAS' consolidation. Those areas of RELEX that the commission retains but needs close cooperation with the EEAS were established in a new DG, the Foreign Policy Instruments Service.