ABSTRACT
This study discussed the European Union Member States’ strategies of cooperation within the particular institutional arrangement characterising the European Union Humanitarian Aid Policy (EUHAP). Differently from any other European external activity, Member States can decide, in the implementation stage of the policy process, between three strategies: full delegation to European institutions, partial delegation to European institutions without giving up the necessary leeway to autonomously participating to decision-making, and unilateralism. After theoretically discussing the costs and benefits for states of choosing one out of the three options, the strategies of cooperation have been contextualised referring to EUHAP. The context in which this policy intervenes is international humanitarian crises. This study therefore questions whether, and eventually to what extent, the characteristics of humanitarian crises in which the EU Member States are called to intervene may influence the choice of the strategy of intervention.
