Internal Cohesiveness and External Effectiveness of the EU in World Politics

Under what conditions is the European Union (EU) an effective actor on the world stage? Is internal cohesiveness, which manifests itself by a single message spoken with a “single voice”, a prerequisite for external effectiveness? This paper first defines internal cohesiveness as the last stage of the four components of actorness -- preceded by authority, autonomy, and recognition. Using a simple two-by-two representation, we then explore the different possible articulations of internal cohesiveness and external effectiveness, defined as the ability to influence international outcomes. Finally we explain variation in negotiating outcomes by highlighting two exogenous features that influence how internal cohesiveness impacts external effectiveness: 1) the bargaining configuration (“who”): players’ number, relative power, and preferences; and 2) the policy arena (“what”): political salience and issue complexity.