Negotiations are central to the functioning and dynamic development of the European Union. Historically, force, equilibrium or hegemony have underscored regional integration schemes in Europe, but, in contrast, the European Union is a voluntarily agreed arrangement of sovereign or semi-sovereign states that solve their conflicts by means of non-coercive negotiations. Due to its complex structure, the EU encourages the formation of networks, and negotiation is the most important vehicle for establishing and keeping these networks in operation. In particular, the concept of polyarchic networks can help to explain activities among unequal negotiation partners in the EU.
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Pfetsch (1998) studied this question.