Conditions for changing inter-organisational relations: The G8 summit and the European Union

Abstract

This article provides a case study in the new and developing field of inter-organisational relations by looking at the position of the European Union (EU) within the Group of Eight (G8). It analyses the questions of why inter-organisational relations start, and how they develop over time. I argue that inter-organisational relations are determined by the dynamics within the international organisations that are involved: both the characteristics that define these organisations, as well as the preferences of their constituent parts. The G8-EU relation was a by-product of European integration resulting from the transfer of competences, but was initially thwarted by the strong and divided preferences within the EU. While the G8’s informality at first facilitated this internal division, it also enabled this relation to change over the following decades. This change cannot only be ascribed to rationalist and social-institutionalist factors but also testifies to a logic of path dependence.