Council Working Groups: communities, hierarchies and the management of contestation

Abstract

The roughly 30 Council Working Groups (CWGs) that prepare the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the EU. Previous research has found that CWGs formulate a large share of the decisions taken by either the Council of the EU or the European Council. Despite this, we still know relatively little about the individuals who make up the CWGs or the working methods, practices, and norms that structure their everyday work. This chapter focuses on two CWGs: COEST and PMG. By comparing with the PSC, a higher ranking preparatory body, the chapter finds that lower ranking working groups, perceive themselves to deal with riskier negotiations while at the same time being more risk averse. In addition, the practices that structure the work of COEST and PMG are remarkably similar, which indicates that a group's position in the decision-making hierarchy is a key condition for variations in group practices and identities.