ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU) has a considerable significance in economic diplomacy, by virtue of the size of the European Single Market and the role the EU and its Member States have played in the international economy order over many decades. The EU has played a key role in shaping the existing international economic organizations and the principles and norms according to which these operate. Its role has been one of first following the leadership of the United States, and then progressively sharing in the leadership of the international economy. But the role of the European Union remains complex due to the nature of a Union consisting of 28 Member States that must define a common preference and negotiate an agreed outcome that satisfies both its Member States and its partners in international negotiations. In terms of the two-level game metaphor discussed in Chapter 3 , the EU can clearly be seen as the Level II. The role of the EU also varies between issue areas, because the competence – or power – of the EU differs between them. Thus in trade the EU plays a more prominent role than in financial diplomacy. EU economic diplomacy is further complicated by the fact that, in addition to the need to reconcile often competing sector and Member State interests, there is the further dimension of EU-level institutions. Thus the interplay between the European Commission, the Council of Members (that represents Member States) and the European Parliament will also shape EU economic diplomacy. 1
This chapter addresses two of the central questions concerning EU economic diplomacy. The first is: what role does the EU play in economic diplomacy? This involves the following subsidiary questions: just how significant is the EU? When does Europe enter into negotiations as the European Union and when as the Member States (or the EU and the Member States together)? And how does the EU reach decisions on its preferences and approaches to negotiations? The second question concerns the effectiveness of the EU. Here the question is really how effective is the EU in defining common preferences and representing these
in international negotiations? The further question of how effective the EU is in shaping outcomes is case dependent and can only be properly understood by detailed cases studies. This is because the outcome of any negotiation involves the other party to any negotiation and the dynamics of the negotiation concerned.
