ABSTRACT
In each of its successive rounds of enlargement, the European Union has included a growing number of small member states, whose threat perceptions and foreign policy interests frequently diverge from those of the larger European powers. This has raised questions over how small member states can participate in EU foreign policy-making. Previous research has noted that the EU has traditionally managed the external dimension of its security through a major power concert embedded within a multilateral framework. This chapter aims to contribute to, and extend, earlier research by investigating the role security minilateralism plays for small-state participation in EU foreign policy decision-making. Specifically, we examine why subregional ‘minilateral’ coalitions are formed, how they evolve over time and what benefits its members expect from initiating or joining these coalitions by analysing three case studies: the Visegrád Four, the Nordic-Baltic Six (NB6) and the Quadro Group in southern Europe. We find that EU member states use subregional minilateralism to reap both utilitarian and normative benefits. On the one hand, coalitions help small member states to overcome information asymmetries and increase their bargaining power. On the other hand, coalitions also foster the accumulation of social capital and the development of reciprocal trust. More research is required to study the relationship between utilitarian and normative benefits of coalitions as well as to better understand why some states proactively lead or join coalitions, while others prefer to opt out.
