Twenty years after the Treaty of Maastricht created the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), one remains constantly reminded of how out of touch its initial aims were with the means the treaty deployed. Today, the EU needs more than ever to be more effective, concentrating on a small number of external actions related to targeted priorities, and proportionate with available means.

This tribune and its title are drawn from the intervention by Sami Andoura made at the conference organized by ISPI and the Representation of the European Commission in Italy – 14 November 2011, Rome (Spazio Europa) in the specific session on “the EU external service: a missing actor?”.