Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The rotating presidency of the European Council is a curious, and unusual, institutional feature. I propose a formal theoretic model that compares a variety of decision-making procedures, including rotating the leadership position in a decision-making council, referendums on each policy issue, and electing a Council president. From the results of the model I conclude that the current version of the rotating presidency has a lot to recommend it. Rotating agenda-setting authority allows for the exploration of new mixtures of policies that might not be discovered or tried under other kinds of procedures. However, I also argue that, once the European Union expands to over 20 members, the procedure may no longer be sustainable.

Keywords

European Council European Union presidency political institutions

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Axelrod, Robert (1997) The Complexity of Cooperation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Cederman, Lars-Erik (1997) Emergent Actors in World Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Hayes-Renshaw, F. and H. Wallace (1997) The Council of Ministers. London: Macmillan.

Hix, Simon (1999) The Political System of the European Union. London: Macmillan.

Kirchner, Emil Joseph (1992) Decision-Making in the European Community: The Council Presidency and European Integration. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.

Kollman, Ken , John Miller , and Scott Page (1998) `Political Parties and Electoral Landscapes', British Journal of Political Science 28: 139-158.

Kollman, Ken , John Miller , and Scott Page (2000) `Decentralization and the Search for Policy Solutions', Journal of Law, Economics, and Organizations 16: 102-128.

Krehbiel, Keith (1991) Information and Legislative Organization. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

O'Nuallain, Colm and Jean-Marc Hoscheit , eds (1985) The Presidency of the European Council of Ministers: Impacts and Implications for National Governments. London: Croom Helm.

10.

Page, Scott (1996) `Two Measures of Difficulty', Economic Theory 8: 321-346.

11.

Schout, Adriann (1998) `The Presidency as Juggler', Eipascope 2: 2-10.

12.

Sherrington, Philippa (2000) The Council of Ministers. London: Pinter.

13.

Tallberg, Jonas (2003) `The Agenda-Shaping Powers of the EU Council Presidency', Journal of European Public Policy. Forthcoming.

14.

Tsebelis, George and Geoffrey Garrett (1997) `Agenda Setting, Vetoes, and the European Union's Co-decision Procedure', Journal of Legislative Studies 3: 139-143.

15.

Tsebelis, George and Geoffrey Garrett (2001) `The Institutional Foundations of Intergovernmentalism and Supranationalism in the European Union', International Organization 55: 357-390.

16.

Wurzel, Rüdiger W. (1996) `The Role of the EU Presidency in the Environmental Field: Does It Make a Difference Which Member State Runs the Presidency?', Journal of European Public Policy 3: 272-291.

The Rotating Presidency of the European Council as a Search for Good Policies

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References