Allies in Transparency? Parliamentary, Judicial and Administrative Interplays in the EU's International Negotiations

Vigjilenca Abazi*, J. Adriaensen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

International negotiations are an essential part of the European Union’s (EU) external affairs. A key aspect to negotiations
is access to and sharing of information among the EU institutions involved as well as to the general public. Oversight of
negotiations requires insight into the topics of negotiation, the positions taken and the strategies employed. Concurrently,
however, some space for confidentiality is necessary for conducting the negotiations and defending EU interests without
fully revealing the limit negotiating positions of the EU to the negotiating partner. Hence, attaining a balance between the
necessities of oversight and confidentiality in negotiations is the subject of a dynamic debate between the EU institutions.
This paper provides a joint analysis on EU oversight institutions’ position on transparency in international negotiations.
We set out to answer whether parliamentary, judicial and administrative branches of oversight are allies in pursuing the
objectives of transparency but also examine when their positions diverge.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)75-86
JournalPolitics and Governance
Volume5
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Sept 2017

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