THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF MEMBER STATES’ EMBASSIES IN THE EU

While the Council framework is a significant factor influencing the daily work of Member States’ bilateral embassies in the EU, there are issues and policies where bilateral embassies act as an important interlocutor for domestic line ministries seeking input and information from counterparts in other Member State governments. Indeed, it is only the embassy on the spot that can deliver a broad overall assessment of the pattern of relations between a country and the host EU state. Thus embassies remain instrumental in the promotion of national positions in intra-EU negotiations. As an example, the German Foreign Office maintains a network of designated EU-Affairs officers in charge of EU policy in all its embassies in the EU. This system enables Germany to directly lobby its partners in favour of German positions and to fully assess those of the other Member States on European policy issues. This is viewed as a major prerequisite for successfully bringing German interests into the process of formulating European policy objectives and demands. A focus on the EU agenda is increasingly becoming the main stay of Member State bilateral missions’ work inside the EU.

The work of the EU bilateral mission network plays a key role in how a Member State maintains close relations with its EU partners and in how the Member State’s  economic and other interests are promoted. Uniquely placed to report on the political contexts within which Member States are formulating policy positions, EU bilateral missions serve to help build within the EU partner countries understanding and support for the country’s positions in relation to key decision-making in the European Council and the Councils of Ministers, and also serve to promote the country’s economic and other interests within the host countries.

EU bilateral missions with their networking capacities represent a resource for a whole-of-Government approach to how a country maintains relations with its EU partners and to how a country can present a cohesive image of its values, interests and foreign policy in the EU member states, both to Governments and to civil society.

Given the highly qualitative nature of the work of the missions, the full impact of the work of the missions cannot be demonstrated in an absolute sense. Assessing the effectiveness of the EU bilateral mission network is made difficult both by the nature of the work itself (messaging, influencing, and relationship-building) and by insufficient detail in relation to the scale and significance of many of the individual activities undertaken by the missions.

Changes in an increasingly complex global environment are, in many respects, blurring distinctions between domestic and international affairs, magnifying the need for a ‘whole-of-government’ approach to the conduct of international relations and the importance of cooperation between government and state agencies. This is particularly the case in the exercise of relations between states within the EU. As well as having an inter-state character (maintaining relations with the other Member States and promoting a country’s interests bilaterally), the work of bilateral missions in the EU has a very strong domestic character (resident Embassies are uniquely placed to report deeply on the domestic contexts within which Member States are formulating national policy positions, thus helping inform and advance with other EU members agreed policy objectives and strategies).

In promoting and protecting the country’s interests, the bilateral diplomatic missions support the work of their Permanent Representation in Brussels, available to provide information as to where Member States stand on particular issues and, as cases arise, seeking support for the country in relation to strategic EU issues. Furthermore, given the volume and complexity of interactions between counterparts at different levels of Government across the EU, the bilateral missions facilitate coherence in how the country conducts its EU business at the level of the individual Member States. This latter role as a facilitator has a particular importance given the imperative for a whole-of-Government approach to how the country conducts its EU business.

Overall, the roles played by the EU bilateral missions reflect wider changes that are happening in the nature of diplomacy. Whereas traditional diplomacy exercised a “gate-keeping” role in which the diplomat acted as the conduit through which most inter-state relations were conducted, the role is now substantially that of influencing and facilitating cross border relations at a variety of levels and involving a wide range of individuals and arms of government, and in a way that helps give coherence to the work of multiple entities acting on behalf of a state .

Distinct from the bilateral missions, the Permanent Representation to the EU functions to represent the country’s policy positions and interests in the day-to-day business of the EU, especially in the preparations for Council meetings. This work involves participation in negotiations, helping build alliances with other Member States on key issues and maintaining good working relationships with the EU institutions, in particular the European Commission, the President of the European Council, the European Parliament and the European External Action Service. The role of the Permanent Representation is very important as the formal channel for engagement with the EU and it plays a crucial role in protecting the country’s interests . It acts as the day-to-day communication link between the line Departments and the EU institutions. It also has the capacity to ascertain the extent to which other member countries share the country’s interests and to build trust with other Member States as it participates in the working groups and committees involved in preparing decisions for the Council of Ministers. As issues for decision making advance and become more defined, the activities of the Permanent Representation facilitates the process of seeking allies on key issues of interest to the country.

In many respects the bilateral missions function as advocates and promoters of their country’s interests, contributing to and complementing the work of other state entities and private sector interests (commercial and otherwise) as may be appropriate. At the same time, they provide a range of specific services to national citizens, business and other stakeholders. In doing all of this the missions also serve to gather information and understanding of the policy positions of the host country and of public opinion influencing those policy decisions. As with many multifaceted and complex areas of activity that have multiple factors at play, including the work of others, most of the outcomes associated with the work of the missions cannot be attributed solely to the missions themselves nor can the impacts of the work of the missions be proven in an absolute sense.

Having bilateral missions is a long-established tool of international diplomacy and they are seen as a key element in the promotion of a country’s economic, diplomatic, political, cultural and other interests with important partners as well as provision of services to citizens and businesses. Missions are invariably part of a country’s wider foreign policy institutional structure. Essentially, the work of the EU bilateral missions serves to project the country’s values and interests within fellow Member States of the European Union thereby helping build within the EU partner countries understanding and support for the country’s positions in relation to key decision-making in the European Council and the Councils of Ministers. In helping build understanding and support for the country’s  positions the missions complement and directly contribute to the work of the Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels.

Bilateral missions are also in a position to provide continuity in the relationship between the country and individual Member States, ensuring that relations do not become reduced to the sum of interactions that might be intermittent, issue-specific and involving representatives who may not meet again. Maintaining close and strong relations with the Member States requires attentiveness to issues at many levels, including attention to the wider society of a host country and to related public diplomacy work. These important aspects of a country’s relations with EU countries ordinarily fall outside the remit of sector specialists. In addition to what might be considered the more formal or structured events, the EU missions undertake other, less formal activities. Many of these involve networking and helping others to network. For example, promoting their companies in the local market or supporting, as appropriate, their companies in dealing with administrative and regulatory barriers.

Apart from the networking that would be a feature of what might be called, “traditional diplomacy”, other activities of the missions might include : Community focused events linking the country Diaspora, Media events, Trade/business introductions, Op-eds (placement of promotional or informational material in newspapers). Arranging media events is a feature of the work of missions that has increased in the last few years.

A key function of an EU bilateral mission is its potential to report deeply and widely on the political contexts within which the host Member State is formulating policy positions. Political, Economic and Cultural reporting are common activities of the missions.

Given the complex nature of the EU policy process, it is essential to engage with a policy proposal from the moment that it is first mooted if the country’s interests are to be properly secured. Early notice of emerging issues in individual Member States provided by embassies helps the country to anticipate issues that may affect its interests, develop an appropriate policy response and engage with the right partners to build support for its proposals. This can best be done in the context of a holistic relationship with each Member State, in which various aspects of the bilateral relationship are pursued. Governments are more likely to engage with a country on issues of interest to it when an approach for support is situated in this broader context. Conversely, if a country has underdeveloped relations with a particular Member State , it may find it harder to seek that country’s support when it is needed. In recent years a number of  EU Member States have examined alternative ways by which they might optimally maintain relations with their EU partners and deliver services to their citizens given a reduction in both staff numbers and the overall budgets available to the respective foreign ministries. Regardless of actual choices being made by different countries, policy priorities are ultimately the key factors driving decision-making. For example, policy priorities of smaller and medium sized EU Member States have been partly driven by a perceived need to counter or balance the influence of larger Member States. In addition, trade, economic diplomacy and public diplomacy feature prominently among Member States as issues of high strategic importance, particularly in recent years. Ultimately, the maintenance by an EU Member State of bilateral missions in the EU has purpose only in the context of directly and indirectly representing, promoting and protecting the country’s interests and policy objectives. With this purpose in mind, all EU Member States put high value on the role played by bilateral missions in helping maximise their presence and influence within the EU, and, as a consequence, helping meet their policy objectives and needs.