Systemic Coordination of European Affairs: Middle-Sized Countries and the CFSP

Abstract

This study seeks to make a contribution to a limited research on the systemic level of the national coordination of European affairs, which involves both domestic institutions and a permanent representation at the EU and national embassies in the EU member states and other countries. We explore the issue through a case study which concentrates on 1) several middle-sized EU member states and 2) coordination in the field of foreign and security policy. The study argues that the coordination at the systemic level has a rather a centralized character. The elements of decentralization, which can be also identified at the systemic level, are primarily related to information-gathering as well as representation at negotiations. Permanent representations are considerably more involved in coordination than national embassies, however.

Keywords

European Union (EU), EU member states, national coordination, Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), middle-sized countries

Author Biography

Jan Karlas

Born in 1978, he is an associate professor and deputy director at the Institute of Political Science Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in Prague. He earned his doctoral degree in international relations at FSV UK and completed a master's program in international relations and European studies at Central European University in Budapest. From 2003 to 2009, he also worked as a research fellow (at times serving as head of the research department) at the Institute of International Relations in Prague. His research interests include international relations theory, theories of political economy, international organizations, and European integration.

Tomáš Weiss

Born in 1980, he is the head of the Department of West European Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in Prague. He studied European studies in Prague and Hamburg, and his research focuses on the foreign and security policy of the European Union, the role of member states in EU foreign policy, and transatlantic relations. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal International Relations.

Ivo Šlosarčík

Born in 1974, he teaches at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in Prague. He studied law and European studies in Prague and Budapest, and his current research focuses on EU law and the adaptation of states to EU membership.

Vít Dostál

Born in 1985, he is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University in Brno, where he also earned a degree in European studies. He works as an analyst at the Association for International Affairs. His research focuses on paradiplomacy, the foreign and European policies of the Czech Republic and Poland, and Central European cooperation.