Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.The institution of diplomacy in its traditional form has found itself challenged in recent decades. The forces of both globalization and regionalisation have placed new demands upon diplomats, who are now required to balance their work against that of a plethora of new actors operating internationally, and at various levels. The European Union offers an operating environment considerably at odds with the international environment from which the institution of diplomacy developed. The Westphalian state order - a state-centric system where war was perceived as a constant threat - formed the backdrop to the evolution of diplomacy as an institution. Diplomacy became the means to mediate the security threat through inter-state dialogue, conducted by diplomats. The absence of a security threat within the EU today calls into question the role of diplomacy and the career diplomat. No longer required to conduct high-level bilateral negotiations, nor mediate a security threat, the diplomat must adapt to the new working environment and identify new roles and tasks to justify their existence. This thesis studies the changing role of bilateral diplomacy within the EU through the experience of Finland, with the aim of identifying the ways in which Finland's bilateral diplomatic practice vis-a-vis fellow member states has changed since entry to the Union in 1995. The research is conducted primarily in the form of interviews with civil servants and career diplomats, as well as consultation of official foreign ministry documents. The choice of the interview method is largely attributable to the fact that there has been very little study previously conducted on the topic at hand. The material collected is analysed using a theoretical framework rooted in the new institutionalist perspective, and elaborated by Jozef Batora. Two categories are selected that may define the direction that the institution of diplomacy is moving in - a change in diplomacy and a change of diplomacy (metamorphosis) - and the evidence collected through research is analysed according to its relevance to either of these two categories of change. This study covers the experiences of both the foreign ministry (with particular emphasis on the bilateral department and bilateral missions), and the sectoral ministries. The evidence collected indicates that a change in the role of Finland's foreign ministry within the EU context has taken place, in addition to changes in the roles attributed to the diplomats at Finland's bilateral missions. The London embassy is taken as a case study, and demonstrates a focal shift from high-level bilateral negotiations to public diplomacy and cultural work, in the name of lobbying for Finland's broader interests in EU decision-making. The sectoral ministries exhibit a variety of experiences since entry to the EU, but a trend appears to be emerging of a decreasing need for the foreign ministry and the services of its embassies, and a preference at the sectoral ministries for conducting their own bilateral dialogue. The evidence collected through this study suggests that the institution of diplomacy is capable of adaptation, and that adaptive measures are being undertaken, quite feasibly paving the way to an entirely new form of diplomacy within the EU
