On 8 and 9 December 2015, The Hague Institute for Global Justice, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, organized both a public high-level discussion and a... Show moreOn 8 and 9 December 2015, The Hague Institute for Global Justice, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, organized both a public high-level discussion and a closed expert consultation on the EU’s forthcoming Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy. The events focused on how the Union and its Member States can promote a rules-based international system and effective multilateral institutions in a rapidly changing environment marked by numerous crises and challenges. The high-level discussion on the morning of 8 December featured keynote addresses from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Bert Koenders, and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. The high-level discussion also served as a prelude to the subsequent expert consultation, which was carried out according to the following methodology. The participants in the consultation were selected from among leading experts in EU foreign policy, global governance, European and international law, and multilateral diplomacy. Reflecting a diverse and representative set of stakeholders and professional perspectives, the experts came from think tanks, academia, international organizations, NGOs, and the private sector. Particular attention was paid to ensuring gender balance and including external perspectives from emerging powers and key partners of the EU, such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Nigeria. In the course of several breakout sessions and plenary discussions, the participants elaborated on the themes of: the EU’s role in developing the international legal order, promoting effective multilateral institutions, and engaging non-state actors in tackling the most pressing global challenges (see Annex I for the program). The expert consultation, held under the Chatham House Rule, was preceded by an e-consultation, which ran from mid-November and included a wider circle of experienced international specialists, as well as younger, emerging experts and youth representatives from diverse disciplines and professions (see Annex II for the summary of the econsultation). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, working together with a number of like-minded Member States, such as Romania and Austria, can draw on the output of the high-level discussion and the expert consultation to contribute to the discussion on the new EU Global Strategy. Show less
While subnational authorities strongly mobilize in Brussels, they do not lobby all EU-level venues to the same extent. This article explains the varying intensity with which regional offices... Show moreWhile subnational authorities strongly mobilize in Brussels, they do not lobby all EU-level venues to the same extent. This article explains the varying intensity with which regional offices interact with various EU-level policy-making venues when seeking to influence EU policies. Theoretically, we complement an exchange-based perspective with political-institutional and contextual factors, such as regional political autonomy and the degree of preference alignment with key policy-making venues. To test our hypotheses, we rely on evidence collected through 33 face-to-face interviews with regional representations concerning their lobbying activities in four salient policy processes. Our results highlight that while most offices regularly interact with both national and supranational venues, the central government representation in Brussels is always, irrespective of what is at stake, the most important contact point. Furthermore, we also find that policy alignments shape venue selection, indicating some evidence of strategic manoeuvrin Show less
