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A European Union ‘Water Diplomacy’? Frames of Water in EU External Action

In: The Hague Journal of Diplomacy
Authors:
Simon Schunz Professor, EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies Department, College of Europe
Associate Research Fellow, United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) Bruges Belgium

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https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7794-004X
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Ediz Topcuoglu Academic Assistant, EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies Department, College of Europe Bruges Belgium

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https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0502-8205
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Summary

In 2013, the European Union (EU) formulated its ambition to develop a ‘water diplomacy’. Subsequently, it attempted to put this aspiration into practice, notably through various Council Conclusions. Despite this activity, the EU’s evolution as a ‘water diplomat’ remains underexplored. To address this gap, this article examines the EU’s understanding of ‘water diplomacy’ by conducting a comprehensive discourse analysis of its framing of water as an object of diplomacy and the resulting diplomatic approaches. The analysis of key EU documents, triangulated through interviews with policy-makers, reveals that several water frames currently intersect, resulting in a multifaceted EU external water action comprising both a narrow and a broad understanding of water diplomacy. Following an explanation of this finding focusing on the policy entrepreneurship of intra-EU water diplomacy stakeholders, the article concludes by discussing its implications for the academic study and political practice of water diplomacy within and beyond the EU.

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