Book launch: The Significance of Informality for the Survival of Multilateralism

How does EU foreign policy actually get made? 

The European Union has developed an increasingly sophisticated architecture of institutions, procedures and formal decision-making mechanisms. Yet, as Making EU Foreign Policy Go Round: The Significance of Informality for the Survival of Multilateralism argues, much of the work that makes European foreign policy possible happens away from the formal structures: through informal negotiations, personal relationships, coalitions and behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

In her new book, Marianna Lovato examines when and why EU member states turn to informal cooperation, and how these practices can help overcome institutional rigidities, build coalitions and enable collective action in times of crisis. Drawing on interviews with diplomats and detailed case studies-including the negotiations over sanctions against Russia, Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), and Operation EUNAVFOR MED Irini-the book offers a close-up view of how European foreign policy works in practice.

This book launch roundtable brings together Dr Kristi Raik, President of the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS), His Excellency Jan Scheer, Ambassador of Germany to Estonia, Dr Nick Wright, Senior Research Analyst in the Europe Research Group at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (United Kingdom) and Dr Marianna Lovato, Lecturer of International Relations at Tallinn University, to discuss the book’s central questions and share perspectives from academia, diplomacy, and policymaking. The roundtable will be chaired by Dr Benjamin Klasche, Associate Professor of International Relations at Tallinn University. 

The roundtable discussion will consider questions including:

• When do formal EU mechanisms work, and when do diplomats need to work around them?
• What is the role of informal cooperation, what is its value added and what are its drawbacks?
• Can informality make the EU more effective in responding to crises?
• In a more contested and unpredictable international order, how can informal cooperation help ensure the survival of multilateralism?

The roundtable will offer an opportunity to connect scholarly research with diplomatic and policy experience, and to consider what the often unseen practice of diplomacy means for the future of European foreign policy and multilateralism.

Book: Making EU Foreign Policy Go Round: The Significance of Informality for the Survival of Multilateralism by Marianna Lovato, published by Bristol University Press in 2026.