Diplomacy: The Impact of the EU on its Member States

What implication does membership of the European Union (EU) have for the national diplomatic systems of its member states? How valid is the notion of a collective EU diplomacy? These two linked but distinct questions form the focus of this chapter. In examining the impact that the EU has had on its member states, a common approach has been to use the concept of Europeanization as a means of denoting the way in which national policy-making has adapted to the European context (Blair, 2002). A central feature of this viewpoint is the growth in the number and range of areas of government that are affected by and are involved in European policy. This is a trend that has been particularly apparent in recent years, with the introduction of the Single European Market (SEM) acting not just as a catalyst for closer economic and trading links, but also as the driving force behind further integration in such areas as social policy. Thus, whereas the early years of the Community saw a great deal of activity centred on a relatively narrow group of policy areas, such as agriculture, this has now expanded to cover all aspects of government, including developments at the local, regional and national level.