Diplomacy and the European Union

Abstract:

Th e conduct of external policy within the framework of the European Union has generated considerable attention from both policy practitioners and academic observers.

At the most fundamental level, this attention has focused on the nature of foreign policy as an area of activity and how this can best be conceptualized in the complex policy milieu represented by the EU.

EU foreign policy is commonly portrayed as a multi-level phenomenon refl ecting the interactions of national,
subnational and EU levels of activity. To avoid the implication that there is a hierarchy of ‘layers’, it has been suggested that a ‘multi-location’ foreign policy
might be more appropriate. Beyond location, however, lies the issue of what ‘foreign policy’ means in a European context.