EU Effectiveness and Unity in Multilateral Negotiations: More Than the Sum of Its Parts? (The European Union in International Affairs) - Hardcover

'This critical and comparative analysis of the EU's effectiveness in multilateral negotiations lifts

the veil on a little researched dimension of EU external action. The originality of the topic and

the rich empirical material make this volume an excellent read for any scholar and student with

an interest in the EU's evolving role as an international player.'

Sophie Vanhoonacker, Chair in Administrative Governance, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

'This stimulating book constitutes a major contribution to the literature on EU external policy.

Written in an engaging manner, van Schaik provides a conceptually innovative account that is

probed and illustrated through three relevant and very competently researched case studies.

The study generates important new insights into the role of the EU as an international actor.'

Arne Niemann, Professor of International Politics and Jean Monnet Chair, the University of

Mainz, Germany

'This is a highly original combination of conceptual clarity and empirical complexity. The

author's insightful conclusions on the EU's unity and effectiveness in international food

standards, climate change and public health policies will be of crucial importance for any

scholarly and policy-relevant assessment of the EU's role in the world.'

Jan Orbie, Co-Director of the Centre for EU Studies, Ghent University, Belgium

This book analyses the relationship between EU unity and its effectiveness in multilateral negotiations on food standards, climate change and public health challenging the assumption that more unity will automatically lead to increased negotiating power. Based on earlier work on EU actorness and coherence, it develops a new model for analysing EU unity and explores the competence of the EU to operate in multilateral negotiations, the degree of preference homogeneity among the EU member states and the extent to which those involved are socialised into working on the basis of a single European voice. Based on rich empirical case studies, academic and policy relevant conclusions are made on the added value of increased cooperation between states in multilateral negotiations, and conditions influencing the EU's effectiveness in these negotiations.