Diplomacy without a state: The external delegations of the European Commission

Journal of European Public Policy

Volumn 7, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 183-205

  Bruter, Michael ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON   (United States)

Author keywords

CFSP; Diplomacy; Embassies; European Commission; European Union; External relations

Indexed keywords

EID: 14844298828     PISSN: 13501763     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (8)

1. A group of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries linked to the European Union by the Yaounde and Lomé conventions.
2. E.g. Wilson (1939: 82): 'The chief diplomatic functions of a permanent diplomatic officer are: a) to represent his State in negotiations with the State to which he is accredited; b) to observe and report occurrences which may affect his State; c) to protect the rights of the nationals of his State.'
3. Including multi-branch delegations and delegations inside the EU.
4. Treaty on the European Union, chapter J.
5. Source: European Council. See Maastricht Treaty, chapter J for the differences between the actions mentioned.
6. Most agree that the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 was the beginning of modern diplomacy.
7. The Recueil de documents diplomatiques gathered by the European Commission for the civil servants in delegations clearly establishes that the delegation, and not the embassy of the presiding country or the 'troika', is the legitimate representative of the EU on these matters.
8. Each year, the Commission sends several letters to heads of delegations to voice protests from national ambassadors of member states complaining about them acting beyond their legitimate power. There are no statistics about these complaints, but the discussions the author had with heads of delegations, national ambassadors and members of DG IA suggest that they are not rare.