The critique may be pointed but necessary. The problem is that EU institutions are disjointed; EU apparatus can’t formulate strategic China policy due lack of consensus among EU member states; and the @EU_EEAS is letting us down /1 https://twitter.com/bueti/status/1254318503777140738">https://twitter.com/bueti/sta...

In 2019 I read an excellent PhD thesis on the EU’s normative power in EU-China dialogues by Dr Max Roger Taylor. During his field research Dr Taylor interviewed close to 50 @EU_Commission officials and @EU_EEAS diplomats /2

https://www.swdtp.ac.uk/profile/max-roger-taylor/">https://www.swdtp.ac.uk/profile/m...

What I learned from Dr Taylor& #39;s thesis is that the weakness of the European Union& #39;s normative power does not lie in trade-offs between material and ideational interests but can be explained by highly problematic practices of @EU_Commission officials and @EU_EEAS diplomats /3

In his analysis of the interviews Dr Taylor identified five different kind of discourses by @EU_Commision officials and @EU_EEAS diplomats. The way I read these discourses his interlocutors were either making excuses on behalf of the Chinese party-state and/or were complacent /4

I hereby invite Dr Taylor to share his research findings with the wider public. I learned from his excellent PhD thesis that *agency matters*. And realising Article 21 of the Lisbon Treaty requires the concerted effort of both @EU_Commission officials and @EU_EEAS diplomats /End