Newcomers in EU foreign policy: the Committee of the Regions as an EU para-diplomatic actor

ABSTRACT

Has the Committee of the Regions (CoR) any role in the EU’s foreign policy? We conceptualize the CoR as an EU para-diplomatic actor, and we explore the evolving and multi-faceted role of the CoR in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) by employing a two-fold approach: first, from an institutional perspective, we examine the role, capacity, and limits of the CoR’s engagement. Second, from a functional dimension, we investigate the added value of the CoR’s initiatives in the ENP and the EU foreign policy more generally. We show that the CoR has managed to expand its room for manoeuvre acting ‘below the radar’ by establishing communication channels and promoting subtle ways of mediation, especially in conflicts of high intensity whereby the EU and national authorities fail to deliver. Our findings contribute to the more comprehensive understanding of both the EU foreign policy and the CoR’s positioning in the EU institutional architecture.

KEYWORDS:

• Committee of the Regions
• European neighbourhood policy
• para-diplomacy
• CORLEAP
• ARLEM

Acknowledgments

The paper has profited from comments made at the 2019 European Group of Public Administration (EGPA) conference, the 2021 European Union in International Affairs conference, and the 2022 Council for European Studies conference. The authors would like to thank all participants in the discussions held in these conferences for valuable and thoughtful comments as well as constructive criticism. In addition, the authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

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

List of interviewees

1. Senior official, Committee of the Regions, 14 July 2021.

2. Official, Committee of the Regions, 22 July 2021.

3. Official, Committee of the Regions, 29 July 2021.

4. Official, Committee of the Regions, 4 August 2021.

5. Official, European Commission, (DG NEAR – Institution building, TAIEX, Twinning), 12 December 2022.

6. Official, European Commission (DG NEAR – Eastern Partnership), 14 December 2022.

7. Official, European External Action Service (Regional Affairs – Union for the Mediterranean), 14 December 2022.

Notes

1. The CIVEX Committee dealt with migration in its ‘Framework programme on Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows’. In 2009, it issued a report on ‘the new Baltic Sea strategy’ (CDR 381/2008). In 2010, CIVEX reached its highest number producing 23.1% of the total reports of the CoR, dealing with issues such as the European neighbourhood policy, and the development of cooperation between Georgia and the EU and the role of local and regional government. (CDR 107/2010). Reports on ‘global approach to migration and mobility’ (CDR 9/2012) and on ‘enlargement strategy and main challenges 2011–2012’ (CDR 365/2011) were presented and adopted by the CoR in 2012. The enlargement strategy 2015–2016 was a topic of a new report issued in 2015. In addition, in 2018 the CIVEX Committee issued reports on ‘Neighbourhood and the World’ (cor-2018–04,008-00-00-ac-tra-en) as well as on the ‘Enlargement Package’ (cor-2018–02,352-00-00-ac-tra-en).