The Changing Politics of Information in European Foreign Policy

Abstract

This article studies the development of European foreign policy from an informational perspective. It illustrates how since the establishment of European Political Cooperation in 1970, the European Union has gradually evolved from a platform to share foreign policy information into a Brussels‐based system that gathers and processes information autonomously. Building upon the broader literature of delegation in international organisations, it explains the gradual shift in the centre of informational gravity from the national capitals to Brussels through motives of efficiency and credibility. The development of an operational foreign policy after the Treaty of Amsterdam has considerably raised the demands for rapid and high quality data. A system entirely dependent on the ad hoc information flows from the member states proved incompatible with these new ambitions. The recent establishment of the European External Action Service and the transformation of the European Commission delegations into Union delegations is the most recent step in this long‐term and highly institutionalised process of European informational cooperation.