In this paper we want to problematize this conventional view of the EU as a reactive, conservative international negotiator. We argue that the EU's structural features need not always result in a disadvantage for the Union in international negotiations. We also content that EU negotiation behavior to a large extent depends on contextual factors. Are negotiations symmetrical or asymmetrical? Are the intentions of the EU shams quo-oriented or change¬-oriented? All these negotiation-specific factors determine what bargaining pattern we expect to find. In addition to the EU's structural features (actor level characteristics) and the negotiation situation (interaction level characteristics), we also ask if the changing nature and character of international negotiations in general (at the systems level) may also begin to impact on the conventional view of EU as a passive and inflexible negotiator
