Abstract
As a prerequisite to shape EU policies in day-to-day negotiations, states have to know what they want and have to quickly produce good instructions. This paper analyses how domestic coordination practices influence the timing and quality of national positions. Are some states in a better position to develop instructions quickly? Are some states more likely to end up with low quality positions? In effect, three factors are crucial to the production of timely and good instructions: good cooperation between Permanent Representations and the lead ministries, autonomous lead ministries that prioritise EU work and good inter-ministerial conflict resolution systems. States such as Luxembourg and Ireland are close to these ideal practices and tend to develop good instructions swiftly, while others, such as Greece and Cyprus, frequently end up with delayed and suboptimal instructions that make it difficult for them to actively participate in EU negotiations.
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