Comparing Council Presidencies
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Introduction
The purpose of the project is to improve our understanding of the performance of the EU presidency. The project highlights four areas: 1. The role conceptions of each individual country. 2. A comparison between the three Nordic countries. 3. A comparison between small Nordic countries and larger EU-members. 4. The presidency as an institution
Further Details
The Council Presidency - one part of the complex institutional set-up of the European Union - has been claimed to give its occupant a possibility to play a larger role than usual on the European political scene. During the six months a country holds the Presidency, it is given a unique opportunity to influence the agenda of the EU. For the smaller member states, whose capacity to contribute to the course of the European integration may otherwise be restricted, the priviledged role of the Presidency is particularly important. Notwithstanding the centrality of the Presidency in EU decision-making, both the institution of the Presidency and the determinants of presidential influence remain underresearched. The purpose of this project is to improve our understanding of presidential performance in general with special emphasis on the Presidencies of Finland, Sweden and Denmark. This project highlights four different areas of research: 1) The role conceptions, role performace and strategies of each individual country. What is, and how can we explain, the balance between national and European interests and between passive management and active initiation? What is tie level of foresight planning and flexibility and how does it influence the capacity to meet the goals of the Presidency? 2) A comparison between the three Nordic countries. Do the countries differ in their role conceptions? Do they exercise different presidential roles and utilise different strategies? How can differences among the Nordic countries along various dimensions be explained? 3) A comparison between the small, Nordic countries and larger EU-members. How wide is the latitude for a small state to influence agenda-setting as compared with a larger member? Do small states rely more on other EU-institutions? 4) The presidency as an institution. What is the relative importance of the Presidency compared to other EU institutions in the shaping of European integration? Does the Presidency fulfil specific and unique leadership functions? To answer these four primary sets of questions we use interviews, questionnaires, documentary analysis and observation.
Department Researchers in this Project
 |
Projektmedlem - infomaster
Ole
Elgström
(Professor) |
External Project Members
Rikard Bengtsson (Malmö högskola) Philippa Sherrington (University of Warwick) Jonas Tallberg (Stockholms universitet)
