Opportunities and Pitfalls of Anti-discrimination Policies in the European External Action Service

The European Union’s equality and anti-discrimination law and policies have seen a remarkable proliferation over the last decades and have also been increasingly incorporated into the external dimension of EU politics and policies. The article focuses on the work of the European External Action Service (EEAS) in the field of anti-discrimination and argues that the implementation of anti-discrimination policies by the EEAS is closely linked with the building-up of the EEAS as an institution and the consolidation of the EEAS as an EU body. However, scrutinising the content of EEAS’ anti-discrimination instruments it becomes apparent that definitions and concepts used are ill-defined and flawed and might even reinforce sexist, heteronormative, racist and islamophobic stereotypes. Furthermore, the myth of a ‘tolerant’ and ‘unique’ EU based on the values of fundamental and human rights is dismantled when exploring vertical, horizontal and especially internal-external incoherencies in the field of anti-discrimination.