Informal groupings as types of differentiated cooperation in EU foreign policy: the cases of Kosovo, Libya, and Syria

ABSTRACT

Although informal groups of member states often steer EU foreign policy, existing scholarly literature does not offer an overarching theoretical approach to account for their causes and their different types. This article conceptualizes informal groupings and offers a theoretical approach that explains their occurrence in EU foreign policy. It claims that while disagreements among member states and the lack of EU capacity are the main causes of informal groupings, the combination of these two factors over time and across different policy issues determines the emergence of specific types of informal groupings in EU foreign policy. Indeed, evidence from Kosovo, Libya, and Syria shows that different types of informal groups addressed various policy issues by replacing, complementing and/or supporting corresponding EU policies. Nonetheless, as these groupings lack central guidance and accountability mechanisms, they are not a panacea for EU foreign policy.

KEYWORDS:

• Differentiation
• EU foreign policy
• informal groups
• Kosovo
• Libya
• Syria

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the participants of the workshop “Differentiation in EU Foreign and Security Policy,” held at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies/European University Institute on October 21–22, 2021, especially Philipp Genschel who acted as discussant for this paper. Early versions of this article were presented at the European Union Studies Association’s Conference (EUSA) (Miami, FL, May 19–21, 2022) and at the Conference of the Standing Group on the European Union of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR, SGEU) (Rome, IT, June 8–10, 2022), where they were fruitfully discussed by Benjamin Leruth and Sophie Vanhoonacker respectively. The author would also like to thank the journal editors and the anonymous reviewers for their very useful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Iran’s participation to the ISSG was facilitated by its rapprochement with the US in the context of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPCOA) signed in July 2015.

Additional information

Funding

The research leading to this publication has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 892444.