The Treaty of Lisbon brings about the most important and substantial changes in the institutional set-up of the EU since the creation of the European Union by the Treaty of Maastricht. The question is, however, does this new set-up increase, by necessity, also the political will of the Member States to act in a way so as for the EU as a whole to play a more significant role in external affairs. The new institutions and the personalities elected to fill those positions offer, in my opinion, a strong chance that the EU will indeed become more relevant and effective. There continue to be, however, also forces which will act in a way as to prevent this or at least slow the process down. In the end, I believe, new community competencies, new and more democratic mechanisms of decision making (e.g. more majority decisions) and global challenges that make united action almost a question of survival, will, however, be a strong incentive to make the "new EU" succeed.
Since April 2009, Ambassador Hans Winkler has been the Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Austria. Until December 2008, Dr. Winkler served as State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. Prior to that he had headed the International Law Department in the Foreign Ministry and had also been Ambassador to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.