Abstract
Summary 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.
Highlights
European Union (EU) diplomacy – Council of the European Union – COVID-19 – e-diplomacy – virtual diplomacy – technology – communication – governance
The pandemic resulted in the unprecedented decision in mid-March 2020 to end all face-to-face meetings within the Council of the European Union
This essay sets out the basis of a research agenda focusing on two key questions: 1) How does diplomacy work without physical presence, in terms of its impact on negotiation, compromise seeking and co-operation; and 2) What questions does the use of e-diplomacy in the Council raise vis-à-vis governance, legitimacy and transparency? After briefly examining the practical effects of the switch to e-diplomacy on the Council, this essay discusses both questions in turn
Summary
Can diplomacy work without physical presence? International relations scholars consider the European Union (EU) the most institutionalised case of international cooperation amongst sovereign states, with the highest density of repeated diplomatic exchange. 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. The pandemic resulted in the unprecedented decision in mid-March 2020 to end all face-to-face meetings within the Council of the European Union This required a temporary derogation from the Council’s rules of procedure to allow votes in written form, preceded by informal videoconferences between ministers, diplomats and officials.. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 15 (2020) 556-568Downloaded from Brill.com11/02/2021 02:18:44PM
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