Does the European Union transform the institution of diplomacy?

Tradition and innovation: Europe's accumulated executive order

“…Within the time frame we cover (from 1648 onwards), we consider bilateral diplomacy on a regular basis as the first executive order in Europe. It constitutes an order because it is organised and because common norms and codes of conduct gradually developed so that diplomats came to perceive themselves as being grounded in two distinct worlds: their respective home state, on the one hand, and the diplomatic community, on the other (Batora 2005;Jo¨nsson and Hall 2005). At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the diplomatic institution became more formalised: for example, the senior ambassador, i.e.…”

Bilateral Embassies in an Integrated Europe: a Case of Institutional Robustness?

“…Inter-state diplomacy is characterized by unified structures and rules of conduct that are stable across space and time and thus facilitate interaction (Bátora 2005). Diplomacy, from this perspective, refers to the methods and personnel maintaining the Westphalian system, in Nicolson's (1969, p. 41) classic definition "the management of the relations between independent States by way of negotiation".…”

Multilevel Union Administration

“…New procedures for appointing top officials seem so far to have contributed further to reducing the amount of interference by governments or commissioners in such processes (Egeberg, diplomatic corps will probably be composed of staff from the Council secretariat, the Commission's external services and national diplomats. If a common external service is to become a reality this would indeed create enormous pressure for down-sizing national foreign services (Batora 2005). The practical work on setting up the new organization started in 2004 under the supervision of the Council's foreign policy chief and the president of the Commission.…”