Diplomatic Negotiation

Chapter X: The Twenty-First Century: Structure and Negotiation
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positive effect on the stability and effectiveness of negotiation processes (Sjöstedt, 2003:
245).
There appears to be a need to harmonize policy-producing organizations, most of
them ministries. Negotiation will be smoother if the institutions involved are more or
less comparable in structure. This may also encompass the creation of uniform EUcoordination
agencies in all of the EU member states, either as part of ministries of foreign
affairs, or as separate ministries of European integration. It should be added, however, that
separate ministries could create more bureaucracy, and experiments with this in some of
the aspiring member states have not shown very positive results to date.
It seems to be unavoidable that the larger EU member states will have to take special
responsibility for the efficiency of the negotiation process through enhanced cooperation
among them, even in a formal sense. They already work much more closely together
than their sometimes hefty disagreements on issues such as CFSP might suggest. More
guidance for the EU by the major EU powers will, of course, demand a better cooperative
process between the three (France, Germany and the United Kingdom) or the six (France,
Germany and the United Kingdom, plus Italy, Poland and Spain) major players in concert
with the Commission, the Parliament, and the smaller EU member states in the Council
of Ministers.
It might be that the member states of the European Union can hardly escape further
integration of EU negotiation processes if they want to survive in the world outside Europe,
however euro-sceptical their populations might be. Yet it could also be true that the EU
cannot escape globalization of the process of international negotiation and will have to
adapt to this trend by taking more responsibility in the realm of conflict resolution through
international negotiation. After all, the European Union negotiation process may be an
enigma, but it is very much a part of the overall negotiation processes that are needed to
run world affairs in a peaceful and effective way. Negotiation is thus a central element in
international relations, deserving attention from practitioners and theoreticians alike. The
role of the diplomat will be scooped out, but diplomacy will stay. It will continue to fulfil
its function ‘as a practical mode of conducting international relations, as a “torchbearer”
[…] and as a “thinking framework” about international politics’ (Bjola, 2013: 19), even
in the European Union. What can we expect from the EU as a player in its own right,
especially in global politics? According to Jan Rood, for the EU to play an effective role
in global politics, it should become more coherent in its external actions, should have a
common vision and strategy, and should take responsibility and lead where applicable,
both through negotiation and – if needed – by deploying military power (Rood, 2013: 14).