A Tough-Rider Typology on Informal Coordination Between EU Member States

EU Member States (MSs) often coordinate their policy positions in international organizations; eventhough the road towards consensus is not always straightforward. In agreement with existing research, we find that the European External Action Service (EEAS) plays a key coordinating role in securing cooperation among MSs in multilateral settings. Based on existing research and interviews with EEAS officials, we use rational choice theory to develop a typology consisting of four idealized practices that arguably may be used by the EEAS to informally encourage cooperation amongst EU MSs: praising, privileging, exposing, and shunning. The typology departs from an understanding of the role of the EEAS as a potential tough-rider that informally incentivizes easy-rider MSs to cooperate with the other EU members on making joint policy positions. The tough-rider typology contributes with a theoretical stepping-stone to enhance our empirical knowledge in future research about how the EEAS informally coordinates policy positions among EU MSs in multilateral settings.