The European Union united? Coordination of EU member states on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights to the UN Commissions on the Status of Women and on Population and Development.

Abstract

The European Union Member States struggle to reach internal consensus in their coordination to the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and the Commission on Population and Development (CPD). Theory prescribe that consensus-decision can be fostered by increasing the reward for cooperation, by discouraging defective behavior and promoting the loyalty amongst members. Findings of this thesis outline that options to increase reward or to establish hard sanctions are not fruitful. To foster EU consensus-building, involved stakeholders should strive to informally discourage defective behavior and by increasing loyalty.