Journal
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
Volume 59, Issue 4, Pages 937-971Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0020818305050320
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This article examines the European Union's Committee of Permanent Representatives, or COREPER, a group composed of the EU permanent representatives (permreps) and responsible for preparing upcoming ministerial meetings of the Council. As the heart of everyday decision making in the EU, COREPER is a key laboratory to test whether and how national officials become socialized into a Brussels-based collective Culture and what difference this makes for EU negotiations. The key scope conditions for COREPER socialization are high issue density/ intensity and insulation from domestic politics. COREPER also displays a range of socialization mechanisms, including strategic calculation, role playing, and normative suasion. Based on extensive interview data and a detailed case study of negotiations for a controversial EU citizenship directive, this article documents a socialization pathway in COREPER marked by adherence to a set of norm-guided rules and principled beliefs in collectively legitimating arguments and making decisions. COREPER socialization does not indicate a pattern of national identities being replaced or subsumed; rather, the evidence points to a socialization process based on a logic of appropriateness and an expanded conception of the self.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available