Theorising the EU as an International Actor

Abstract

This chapter provides an outline of the theoretical framework used to analyse the negotiating dynamics in the four case studies of development, trade, enlargement, and withdrawal negotiations. The framework combines a two-level game approach with principal–agent analysis. The main focus of the framework is on the actual negotiators—most often a team of Commission officials situated in a specific DG. It explains how these negotiators continuously engage with three or four sets of domestic constituents—the College of Commissioners, the Council, the European Parliament, and sometimes the European Council—while they negotiate international agreements. The framework outlines how the EU negotiators engage with their international counterparts, using a range of negotiating strategies to reach an agreement that is satisfactory to both parties, and which will be ratified by the domestic constituents.