This paper focuses on the under-researched role of the European Union as a mediator in peace negotiations. It is explorative and mainly conceptual. We develop an analytical framework for investigating the European Union’s mediator effectiveness. To probe its empirical plausibility, we apply it to the case of EU mediation between Serbia and Kosovo (Belgrade-Pristina dialogue). Since the beginning of the 2000s the European Union has been increasingly involved in directly supporting peace negotiations in inter- and intra-state conflict by taking on the role of a third-party mediator. Despite an increasing interest in the EU’s engagement in international mediation by policy-analysts and practitioners both EU foreign and security policy scholars and students of conflict resolution have been rather reluctant to pay much attention to the role the EU plays in mediation and peace process support. To fill this research gap at least to a certain extent, the paper seeks to answer the following research question: How can EU mediator effectiveness be appropriately conceptualised? Mediator effectiveness is analysed along two dimensions: 1) goal-attainment and 2) conflict settlement. Building on concepts and empirical findings of both European foreign policy studies and international mediation literature, our investigation of conditions of mediator effectiveness is structured around three key variables: capabilities, policy coherence and preference complementarity. The paper should fit well into the general theme of the workshop, in particular into session 5 as outlined in the workshop description. By drawing on concepts and theoretical propositions of mediation and negotiation research, we aim to contribute a new and potentially instructive theoretical perspective to the development of a theory of the EU as an international security provider. In addition, by focusing on the EU’s role as a mediator in peace negotiations we explore a facet of EU security policy which has been under-researched so far.
