The EU’s Political and Security Committee: still in the shadows but no longer governing?

The Lisbon Treaty introduced the most far-reaching reforms to EU foreign and security policy cooperation since the 1990s. In the decade since, much attention has been focused on the role of the High Representative/Vice President and the European External Action Service. However, very little has been said about how Lisbon has affected the Political and Security Committee, the crucial ambassadorial formation through which member states manage their foreign policy cooperation.Our research reveals how an actor previously at the centre of EU foreign policy-making is now battling to maintain its influence in a much-changed institutional landscape.