The position was augmented by the Treaty of Lisbon, which established its current title and powers, including a seat on the European Commission as Vice-President, and a chair of the council of EU foreign ministers.

The first person to hold the full title of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, inaugurated upon the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, was Catherine Ashton.

The High Representative is responsible for appointing EEAS staff and for controlling general foreign policy (outside of trade, development and enlargement which has to be made together with the commission) including security initiatives and intelligence sharing.

It would put an end to the double job which exists between the current function of Mr Javier Solana, and that carried out within the Commission by Mme Benita Ferrero-Waldner, in charge of the external aid of the EU.

From 25 November 1999 he was also appointed Secretary-General of the Western European Union (WEU), overseeing the transfer of responsibilities from that organisation to the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

He has negotiated numerous Treaties of Association between the European Union and various Middle Eastern and Latin American countries, including Bolivia and Colombia.

[17] Solana has played an important role working toward a resolution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and continues to be a primary architect of the "Road map for Peace", along with the UN, Russia, and the United States in the Quartet on the Middle East.

[23] Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Ashton chaired a meeting of the foreign relations, development and environment DGs and experts from the Council and the Situation Centre (the EU intelligence-gathering agency).

There they agreed on €3 million in aid, to look for further financial assistance, to send personnel to assess the situation and to co-ordinate pledges from member states.

Although she refused to describe it as the first act of the external action service, Ashton did emphasise that it was the first time that such a co-ordination between all the various EU foreign policy actors had been accomplished before.

Spain, which held the rotating Council presidency that would have taken charge before the Treaty of Lisbon, took a back seat though assisted, for example by offering use of the Spanish base in Panama.

"[26] Criticism continued to mount, including complaints that she skipped a defence meeting to attend the inauguration of Ukraine's Prime Minister[27] alleged bias towards British officials, lack of language skills and risking a UK-French feud over creating an EU military planning headquarters.

"[32] However, Former European Commission adviser Dr Fraser Cameron argued that "the criticism one hears of Ashton is pretty strong and it will be difficult to overcome the bad press she has.

"[32] Ashton chaired the meetings between the E3/EU+3 (P5+1 countries and the EU) and Iran in Geneva,[33] which led to an interim agreement on 24 November 2013, and the Joint Plan of Action.

[34][35] The tone of public comment on Aston's performance in office was subsequently to be influenced especially by her contributions to negotiations over Kosovo and the normalisation of its relationship with Serbia, and over Iran over its nuclear program.

That makes her an ideal negotiator", says Alexander Graf Lamsdorff, the head of Germany's business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP) in the European Parliament and a member of its Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Nonetheless, on 2 August 2014, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi formally nominated her by letter to EC President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker, as Italy's official candidate for EU Commissioner.

On the same day the President Herman Van Rompuy announced that the European Council had decided to appoint the Italian Minister as its new High Representative, effective from 1 November 2014.

In 2015, Mogherini won praise for her role in negotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran, and along with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was the one to announce the accord to the world.

[39] In February 2015, the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker appointed Michel Barnier, the former EU Internal Market Commissioner, as his special advisor on defence and security.

Juncker stated that Barnier's role will be to advise the European Commission and particularly the EUHRVP Federica Mogherini on important defence and security issues.

[14] Barnier's appointment came on the heels of the nomination of senior French diplomat Alain Le Roy as the new Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS or EAS).

"In this global pandemic, international solidarity is not just a matter of staying true to our values", Josep Borrell Fontelles, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said.

[41] With the development of the Israel-Hamas war, Borrell has been repeatedly critical of Israel actions, calling the country's siege of Gaza illegal and dismissing its evacuation orders as unrealistic.

As European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, he condemned the "barbaric and terrorist attack" by Hamas on Israel which started the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.

[42] On 3 January 2024, he condemned the comments of the Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, writing, "Forced displacements are strictly prohibited as a grave violation of [international humanitarian law] & words matter.

[50] The trip was criticized by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who stated, without further elaboration, that Kallas and Costa made statements not agreed upon by EU bodies.

[51] On the same day, Kallas also warned the Georgian government against using violence to suppress ongoing protests over the ruling party's decision to postpone EU accession talks, threatening sanctions.