At 2011 Politicologenetmaal, the yearly meeting of Flemish and Dutch political scientists, I am participating in the workshop on ‘The political economy of the European Union’. I am going to present a paper entitled ‘When hands are tied externally: scope conditions for the autonomy of the EU negotiator in international negotiations’, which I co-authored with Edith Drieskens and Bart Kerremans (both K.U.Leuven).