Making EU Foreign Policy Go Round : The Significance of Informality for the Survival of Multilateralism.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lovato, Marianna.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (211 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Bristol : Bristol University Press, 2026.

Summary:

This book provides fresh insight into multilateral diplomacy, revealing how informal cooperation--not just formal mechanisms --drives EU foreign policy success.Drawing on interviews with diplomats and analysis of critical cases, including sanctions against Russia and Ukraine response coordination, this groundbreaking study exposes the essential.

Contents:

Front Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables

List of Abbreviations

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Contributions of the book

Why should we care about informality?

Uncovering the role of informality in EU foreign policy

Investigating informality: methodological challenges and opportunities

Structure of the book

1 Informality and EU Foreign Policy

EU foreign policy and informality

Informality in international co-​operation

Why do we have informality?

Power-​based explanations

Neo-​functionalist explanations

Managing global power shifts

Allowing for more efficient decision-​making

Political explanations

Supply-​side explanations

What about norms and institutions?

Conclusion

2 When, How, and Why Do States Go Informal?

Conceptualizing informality

Why do EU member states resort to informality?

Perceived effectiveness of formal institutions

Presence of a clear political mandate

Disagreement at domestic political level

Existence of precedent

Member State characteristics: resources, capabilities, and (self-​) perceptions

Issue characteristics

Salience

Urgency

Politicization

Institutional norms and culture

Co-​ordination reflex

Consensus decision-​making

Secrecy and confidentiality

The many shapes and sizes of informality

Informal arenas

Informal practices

Informal roles

Informal penholders

Broker or mediator among two (groups of) Member States

What are the implications of informality?

3 The Russian Sanctions Negotiations

Support for sanctions against all odds

Setting up the conditions for informal governance

A politically salient issue demanding immediate action.

Escaping the (in)efficiency of the Foreign Affairs Council

Domestic disagreements

Absence of precedent and lack of capabilities

Informality at play

The European Council and the informal way out of the FAC stalemate

The G7 Plus and the informal contact group on sanctions

Practices: information-​gathering and intelligence-​sharing

Roles: the UK as informal broker

After Russia's full-​scale invasion of Ukraine

Informality is here to stay

4 Coalition-​building in the Permanent Structured Co-​operation (PESCO) Negotiations

A decade in the making: the long and winding road to PESCO

Now or never: the high political stakes of European defence initiatives

Sidelining the EEAS and Council working groups

The consensus-​building power of informal groupings

Like ripples in a pond: the coalition-​building strategy of the PESCO 4

Closing the deal on PESCO

Practices: sustaining and supporting consensus-​building efforts

Roles: oiling the wheels of formal negotiation channels

Can I hold your pen? France's role as the informal penholder

Spain and Italy's role: playing moderator between Berlin and Paris

5 Operation EUNAVFOR MED Irini

Untangling the geopolitical context

The Libyan civil war, the UN peace process, and the arms embargo

External migration and the central Mediterranean route

The competition for energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean

Agree to disagree: the uneasy compromise on Operation Irini

Setting up the conditions for (in)formal governance

The Berlin Conference and the role of a clear mandate

Operation Sophia and the importance of precedents

Politicization and issue salience.

Institutional norms and culture

Formal Council structures and the parallel Berlin Process

The EEAS and the paradox of the formal penholder

Capital-​to-​capital co-​ordination

Constructive ambiguity

6 The Significance of Informality

The many reasons why states 'go informal'

The multifaceted nature of informality

The significance of informality for the EU's international role

Do not believe everything you hear: nuancing assumptions about informality

EU foreign policy: an eminently traditional diplomatic practice

Are larger Member States truly the winners of informality?

Informality is not necessarily less accountable and opaque

Informality and European integration

The added value of informality to global governance: a necessary condition for the success of multilateralism?

Institutionalizing informal co-​operation? Lessons from the EU

A more informal future ahead? How domestic politics is bound to shape the nature of global governance

Making EU foreign policy go round

APPENDIX Interviews

Notes

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-5292-5678-X

OCLC:

1587900627