John Park, head of an analytical group on North Korea at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, said he would not be surprised if EU representatives joined the talks as negotiators.
He said certain high-ranking EU officials would want to see Europe represented at the talks.
According to Park, Russia is currently representing EU interests in Beijing to a certain extent, although European countries would want to have greater influence on the negotiation process because of their broad economic interests in Asia.
Park is considered one of the most prominent experts on the North Korean nuclear program. His expert group spent last year consulting with the six sides in the negotiations in order to form a clear picture of their platform for the talks.
The participants, China, North Korea, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia have called a three-week recess in the fourth round of the nuclear talks, which started in Beijing in June. They agreed to resume the talks at the end of August.
