Abstract
This book offers a cross-policy comparison of the methods used by the Czech Republic's representatives in the European Council to influence EU decision making. It focuses on four areas of EU foreign policy and external relations, namely the Common Security and Defence Policy, the promotion of democracy and human rights, the European Neighbourhood Policy, and foreign trade.
It applies a categorisation developed in the academic literature on lobbying to analyse the behaviour of the Czech Republic's representatives. The research is based on a survey of Czech representatives to Brussels and a detailed case study in each of the four policy areas.
It relies on more than 50 semi-structured interviews with policy makers in Prague and Brussels. It maps the methods that are available to a small member state to advance its interests and evaluates the Czech Republic's success in that regard.
In so doing, it contributes to two strands in the literature of EU studies, Europeanisation and small states. The book suggests that the scholarship on lobbying in general offers useful tools for analysing small states' performance in the EU.
It also concludes that while there is evidence that Czechia is learning how to behave in the EU and its behaviour is becoming Europeanised, the instability of its national politics and administration is undermining its ability to promote its national interests in Brussels