eprintid: 10113755
rev_number: 22
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/10/11/37/55
datestamp: 2020-11-04 10:48:46
lastmod: 2022-01-17 23:28:52
status_changed: 2020-11-04 10:48:46
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Maurer, H
creators_name: Wright, N
title: A New Paradigm for EU Diplomacy? EU Council Negotiations in a Time of Physical Restrictions
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B03
divisions: C03
keywords: European Union (EU) diplomacy; Council of the European Union; COVID-19; e-diplomacy; virtual diplomacy; technology; communication; governance
note: © HEIDI MAURER AND NIChOLAS WRIGHT, 2020. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
abstract: Can diplomacy work without physical presence? International relations scholars consider the European Union (EU) the most institutionalised case of international co-operation amongst sovereign states, with the highest density of repeated diplomatic exchange. In a year, the Council of Ministers hosts on average 143 ministerial and 200 ambassadorial meetings, along with hundreds of working group meetings. These intense diplomatic interactions came to an abrupt halt in mid-March 2020, when the spread of COVID-19 forced the Council to approve — in a manner unprecedented in European integration history — the temporary derogation from its rules of procedures to allow votes in written form, preceded by informal videoconferences between ministers or ambassadors. This argumentative essay reflects on how we can use these extraordinary months of intra-European diplomacy to assess the viability of virtual diplomacy in the EU context and what lessons it provides as we seek more sustainable means of international engagement.
date: 2020-10
date_type: published
publisher: Brill
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1163/1871191X-BJA10039
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1825783
doi: 10.1163/1871191x-bja10039
lyricists_name: Wright, Nicholas
lyricists_id: NWRIG92
actors_name: Flynn, Bernadette
actors_id: BFFLY94
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: The Hague Journal of Diplomacy
volume: 15
number: 4
pagerange: 556-568
citation:        Maurer, H;    Wright, N;      (2020)    A New Paradigm for EU Diplomacy? EU Council Negotiations in a Time of Physical Restrictions.                   The Hague Journal of Diplomacy , 15  (4)   pp. 556-568.    10.1163/1871191x-bja10039 <https://doi.org/10.1163/1871191x-bja10039>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10113755/3/%5B1871191X%20-%20The%20Hague%20Journal%20of%20Diplomacy%5D%20A%20New%20Paradigm%20for%20EU%20Diplomacy_%20EU%20Council%20Negotiations%20in%20a%20Time%20of%20Physical%20Restrictions.pdf