Description
In a contested and competitive global order, understanding how regional cooperation is sustained is increasingly important. Brexit, migration, and the rise of authoritarian populism have challenged what it means to be European and how this translates into regional institutions.
In this light, the emergence of the European Political Community (EPC) is arguably significant as the latest addition to Europe’s extensive regional architecture. The EPC emphasises informal/private micro-practices of interpersonal relations alongside formal/public macro-practices of performing European unity and values. This contrasts with the densely institutionalised framework of the EU.
In this paper, I contend that the EPC reinforces particular English School ontological, epistemological and empirical claims for regional international society. First, it supports Knudsen and Navari’s (2019) proposed structuration theory, by illustrating how situated actors are involved in elaborating values and organisations. Next, the absence of summit communiques or press conferences requires a hermeneutic approach to interpreting what is in the minds of those who act as states, as Manning (1962) argued. Third, the EPC speaks to the pluralist European regional international society proposed by Diez and Whitman (2002) as existing alongside a solidarist EU comparator, but rooted in “more informal norms, rules, institutions and boundaries”.
Through an analysis of interviews with European diplomats, this paper will argue that the EPC provides evidence of the continuing importance for European policymakers of maintaining 'raison de systeme', despite the myriad challenges Europe faces. It will also suggest ways that informal bilateral relationships can be better incorporated into existing theories of international society.
