Specialisation in EU small states’s foreign policy

Small states are defined by limited capacities to design and conduct policies when compared to larger countries. In the European Union, where the majority of the member states are small but the EU as a whole has got policies towards regions all over the world and on most topics, the small states are often unable to formulate positions on all items on the agenda. They need to specialise and concentrate on relevant issues only. The proposed paper will take account of the process of specialisation in selected small states. Combining the scholarship on small states and learning, it will compare small states with different lengths of membership (Portugal, Austria, Czechia) to study how specialisation and prioritisation emerge and how it is understood among policymakers. Based on an analysis of key foreign and security policy documents and interviews with practitioners in the capitals and in Brussels, the paper will test the hypothesis that the longer the membership, the more accepted is the fact that specialisation is necessary to influence EU foreign policy and the more the institutional structures adjust to a more effective pursue of interests in the priority areas.