EU Commission considers supercharged department for foreign relations – POLITICO

The European Commission is considering combining several units into one powerful department for external relations, three EU officials told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook.

The idea — one of several options being considered to boost the Commission’s external-facing policy units — would be to maximize the EU executive’s external-policy reach, in keeping with the aims of a “large-scale review” being led by Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin.

A supercharged department for external relations could include elements, in whole or in part, of DG TRADE or DG MENA, the department in charge of Middle East and North Africa policy. Other options under consideration include reorganizing departments along geographic or thematic lines, according to the officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss confidential plans.