Introduction: European Diplomacy after Lisbon — Different Speeds Instead of One Voice

Abstract

Henry Kissinger supposedly asked this question to allude to the lack of a genuine European ‘Union’ in global politics (Rachman, 2009; The Washington Post, 2012). When it comes to foreign affairs and diplomacy, the EU is still an intergovernmental club of 28 members, each with its own distinctive policy. Instead of a unitary diplomatic actor, this makes the EU look like a Hydra-like ‘beast’ on the global stage, with 28 heads and therefore 28 different voices — and numerous telephone numbers for Kissinger and other statesmen to call (Risse-Kappen, 1996; Laffan, 1998, p. 250). The ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon should have solved or at least mitigated this problem. It contains provisions that are intended to channel diplomatic activity in EU matters through Brussels, by upgrading existing and setting up new EU institutions (European Union, 2010, Art. 27 and Art. 221; Nugent, 2010, p. 380).