Reaching for the Threshold? Assessing institutional maturity in EU foreign policy

This paper revisits core pieces of literature of EU foreign policy studies to gauge in how far the endogenous institutional quality of EU foreign policy structures has matured. In (re-)applying two institutional tests, it will try to assess whether the EU’s foreign policy capabilities as still so unequivocally below state level. First, it will return to the ‘capabilities-expectations gap’ (Hill 1993) to investigate the quality of the institutional structure in foreign policy and in how far the EU’s institutions fulfil general functions of foreign policy. Second, it will study whether the EU still is a case of ‘procedure as substitute for policy’ (Wallace and Allen 1977). The results of this assessment will allow us to take stock of long-term, slow change in institutional quality that may otherwise be overlooked. It will contribute to the overall assessment of the EU’s maturation by providing two distinct assessments on institutional scope as well as how well this scope translates into relevant policy stances.