EU Governance and Global Governance: New Roles for EU Diplomats

Abstract

The holders of international power and authority produce expectations for global governance both through their own behaviour and through the governance standards they expect and frequently require from their partners abroad. How the increasingly powerful European Union (EU) meets such expectations and imposes its requirements form a key theme of this chapter. A second theme is the innovative and mutually reinforcing interaction between EU governance and global governance, of which EU diplomats are the prime architects. Indeed, just as the evolving features of European governance have clearly resulted in new forms of diplomacy between the member states of the EU, there are new roles for Europe’s diplomats outside the EU — not least at the United Nations (UN) and in relations with other multilateral and regional organisations. In fact, the practical interaction of the EU with the institutions of global governance and its self imposed role as a purveyor of norms for ‘good’ governance worldwide are two crucial features of a conscious process of norm-setting by European governments, their diplomats and the officials of the EU institutions.