Democratic and efficient foreign policy? Parliamentary diplomacy and oversight in the 21st century and the post-Lisbon role of the European Parliament in shaping and controlling EU foreign policy

Abstract

In the post-Cold War international system, parliaments have gained a particular place in the dense network of international relations, traditionally monopolised by executives. Parliaments are increasingly expected to contribute to resolving complex foreign policy and international issues impacting more and more on citizens’ lives. The paper reflects on the gradual parliamentarisation of an EU polity so much dominated by Member States: foreign policy. It analyses the nature of the European Parliament’s actorhood in international relations, the EP’s emerging role in EU foreign policy as well as the tools and powers available to exert influence on the Union’s decisions and relations. It finally concludes that EU foreign policy can become efficient and democratic at the same time in the process of building an EU „representative democracy”.