The European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) have scaled back the first phase of their project to resize the network of European Union delegations from 2026, taking into account the EU’s geopolitical priorities, such as enlargement to the countries of the Western Balkans, and budgetary constraints.
Earlier this week, the leaders of the EU institution and the EEAS announced the list of eleven delegations that will be reduced to a minimum level, leaving only an EU diplomatic presence, with no local staff. The countries concerned are: Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Eswatini, Lesotho, South Sudan, Papua New Guinea, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Kuwait, East Timor and Belarus.
In these countries, development projects will continue, but will be managed from delegations that will be strengthened to act as regional hubs. While an earlier project envisaged the creation of 18 hubs (see EUROPE 13558/4), the number approved has been reduced threefold to focus on the EU delegations in the following countries: South Africa, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Fiji and Barbados.
The delegations of these regional hubs will manage development projects in neighbouring countries, including those where the EU’s diplomatic presence will be reduced to a minimum. For example, the EU hub in South Africa will cover Botswana, Mauritius, Madagascar and the Comoros; Senegal will cover Mauritania, Cabo Verde, Guinea Conakry and the Gambia; Côte d’Ivoire will cover Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Liberia and Sierra Leone; Kenya will cover South Sudan and Somalia; and Barbados will cover the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, Guyana and the Belize office.
Administrative arrangements will be made to ensure that the head of a regional hub does not consider staff working with countries where the EU presence will be reduced as staff on secondment.
No changes are planned at this stage for the delegations not mentioned above, which are part of the network of 145 EU delegations employing 6,000 staff worldwide. However, the Commission and the EEAS specify that this is a “first stage” that will run until the future post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Bernard Denuit)