The methods of community in EU decision-making and administrative rivalry in the Council’s infrastructure

Decision-making in the European Union (EU) takes place in a rich normative environment and context of interaction where compromise is part of the organizational culture. A prominent example is the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) which has evolved a distinct style of making decisions. The main features include: diffuse reciprocity, thick trust, mutual responsiveness, a consensus-reflex, and a culture of compromise. These features, or 'methods of community,' suggest a need to refine theories of EU decision-making to take into account the sociality and normative environment in which interests are defined and defended. This article also diagnoses a robust level of administrative rivalty among EU preparatory committees operating within the Council's infrastructure, which can have deleterious effects and unintended consequences for the decision-making process. The rivalry is especially pronounced over the competencies for pillars two (Common Foreign and Security Policy) and three (Justice and Home Affairs).