TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INSTITUTIONAL PROFILES OF MINISTRIES OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: THE CASE OF EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES

The characteristics of the institutional organisation of Ministries for foreign affairs (MFAs) enable to reflect on the general conditions influencing the operation of the foreign ministries and on the way the institutional profiles as such influence the foreign policies of individual countries. In order to be able to establish the differences and patterns in institutional profiles of the MFAs, this article proposes to observe the vertical and horizontal concentration in their organisational structures, the role of political-mandate based leadership and the balance between the main foreign policy focus areas. In the empirical part of the article, the MFAs of the 28 European Union member states are put into comparison. The article concludes by reflecting on the empirical and theoretical implications of the proposed characteristics of the institutional profiles.