Introduction

This chapter introduces the main research puzzle, namely the divergence between the EU’s increasing attempts to conclude Association Agreements with third parties covering relations in multiple policy areas, and the outcomes of such negotiations which are highly divergent between cases. On the basis of this puzzle and a brief analysis of the existing literature on the EU’s international negotiations, a research gap is identified and the concept of complex EU Association Agreement negotiations as distinct from its traditional trade negotiations is developed. The main research question on what drives the EU’s behaviour in these complex negotiations is then outlined. The remainder of the chapter then introduces the analytical framework based on Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) and discusses the structure of the study at hand, including the case selection of the EU’s Association Agreement negotiations in the Latin American region.