TY - JOUR
T1 - Black Boxes and Open Secrets: Trilogues as Politicized Diplomacy
AU - Roederer-Rynning, Christilla
AU - Greenwood, Justin
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - How can we explain the puzzling contrast between formal rules of open EU lawmaking and the practice of secluded trilogues? This question, arising against growing public controversy, points to a blind spot in the scholarly agenda on trilogues, which has overwhelmingly focused on their internal games. Drawing on the interpretivist tradition, we argue that rules are shaped by tradition and the dilemmas arising from conflicting beliefs and lived experiences. On this basis and drawing on extensive interview material, we argue that: 1) the vagaries of EU lawmaking can best be understood through the concept of ‘politicized diplomacy’; 2) a new tradition arose in support of seclusion, around the core belief of protecting the ‘space to think’; and 3) institutionalized contradictions, together with ideological tensions and ambiguous lessons from the lived experience of EU lawmakers have turned trilogues into a permeable institution, while prompting renewed public demands for transparency.
AB - How can we explain the puzzling contrast between formal rules of open EU lawmaking and the practice of secluded trilogues? This question, arising against growing public controversy, points to a blind spot in the scholarly agenda on trilogues, which has overwhelmingly focused on their internal games. Drawing on the interpretivist tradition, we argue that rules are shaped by tradition and the dilemmas arising from conflicting beliefs and lived experiences. On this basis and drawing on extensive interview material, we argue that: 1) the vagaries of EU lawmaking can best be understood through the concept of ‘politicized diplomacy’; 2) a new tradition arose in support of seclusion, around the core belief of protecting the ‘space to think’; and 3) institutionalized contradictions, together with ideological tensions and ambiguous lessons from the lived experience of EU lawmakers have turned trilogues into a permeable institution, while prompting renewed public demands for transparency.
KW - ordinary legislative procedure
KW - trilogues
KW - seclusion
KW - interpretive research
KW - politiczed diplomacy
KW - politicised diplomacy
U2 - 10.1080/01402382.2020.1716526
DO - 10.1080/01402382.2020.1716526
M3 - Journal article
VL - 44
SP - 485
EP - 509
JO - West European Politics
JF - West European Politics
SN - 0140-2382
IS - 3
ER -