Cooperation by committee

Examines the examples of the Civilian Crisis Management Committee (Civcom) and EU Military Committee (EUMC), in order to shed light on the transgovernmental dynamic within the field of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), the EU's cornerstone policy mechanism for crisis response in third countries. Provides insight into the transgovernmental processes of Member States' permanent representations, suggesting that committees can be dynamic, distinctive, and influential in their roles. The expertise, culture, meeting frequency, and norms of the two committees are compared, and the way in which how these factors influence their overall internal dynamic is analysed. Taking a sociological-institutionalist approach, the author suggests that the group dynamics, shared norms, and evolving worldviews within these committees contribute, at least in part, to whether consensus is possible.