What role does the rotating Council Presidency maintain a decade after Lisbon? This article argues that, regardless of institutional changes, the rotating Presidency still shapes the Council agenda to a large extent. Based on an original hand-coded dataset of rotating Presidency programmes between 1997 and 2017, I show that some policies are ‘stickier’ on the Council agenda, while the others exhibit significant changes in salience over time. Since the magnitude of these shifts varies from Presidency to Presidency, the analysis focuses on domestic political factors and the country positioning vis-à-vis the European Union to determine their relationship with agenda volatility. By means of a panel model, the examination demonstrates that the government issue salience can best explain the levels of issue salience in the Presidency programmes.
AlexandrovaPCarammiaMTimmermansA (2012)
Policy punctuations and issue diversity on the European Council Agenda. Policy Studies Journal40(1): 69–88.
2.
AspinwallM (2002)
Preferring Europe: Ideology and national preferences on European integration. European Union Politics3(1): 81–111.
3.
AspinwallM (2007)
Government preferences on European integration: An empirical test of five theories. British Journal of Political Science37(1): 89–114.
4.
BailerSMattilaMSchneiderG (2015)
Money makes the EU go round: The objective foundations of conflict in the Council of Ministers. Journal of Common Market Studies53(3): 437–456.
5.
BarbieriPSchererS (2009)
Labour market flexibilization and its consequences in Italy. European Sociological Review25(6): 677–692.
6.
BatoryAPuetterU (2013)
Consistency and diversity? The EU’s rotating trio Council Presidency after the Lisbon Treaty. Journal of European Public Policy20(1): 95–112.
7.
BevanSRasmussenA (2020)
When does government listen to the public? Voluntary associations and dynamic agenda representation in the United States. Policy Studies Journal 48(1): 111–132.
8.
BickertonCJHodsonDPuetterU (2015)
The new intergovernmentalism: European integration in the Post-Maastricht era. Journal of Common Market Studies53(4): 703–722.
9.
BreemanGLoweryDPoppelaarsC, et al. (2009)
Political attention in a coalition system: Analysing Queen’s speeches in the Netherlands 1945–2007. Acta Politica44, 1–27.
10.
BunseSKleinC (2012) What’s left of the rotating presidency? The future of ‘National’ presidencies. In: ForetFRittelmeyerY-S (eds) The Commanding Heights of the European Union. The European Council, the Rotating Presidencies and the New Figures for Europe: Competition or Collaboration?
London:
Routledge, pp. 75–93.
11.
CarammiaMPrincenSTimmermansA (2016)
From summitry to EU government: An agenda formation perspective on the European council. Journal of Common Market Studies54(4): 809–825.
12.
CarvalhoJRuedinD (2018)
The positions mainstream left parties adopt on immigration: A cross-cutting cleavage?Party Politics. Epub ahead of print June 15 2018. DOI: 10.1177/1354068818780533.
13.
CaugheyDO’GradyTWarshawC (2019)
Policy ideology in European mass publics, 1981-2016. American Political Science Review113(3): 674–693.
14.
CopseyNHaughtonT (2009)
The choices for Europe: National preferences in new and old member states. Journal of Common Market Studies47(2): 263–286.
DinanD (2013)
The post-Lisbon European Council Presidency: An interim assessment. West European Politics36(6): 1256–1273.
17.
DöringHManowP (2016) Parliaments and governments database (ParlGov): Information on parties, elections and cabinets in modern democracies. Development version. Available at: http://www.parlgov.org (accessed 20 August 2017).
18.
ElgströmO (2003) Introduction. In: ElgströmO (ed.) European Union Council Presidencies. A Comparative Perspective.
London:
Routledge, pp. 1–17.
19.
ElgströmO (2017)
Norm advocacy networks: Nordic and like-minded countries in EU gender and development policy. Cooperation and Conflict52(2): 224–240.
20.
ElgströmOTallbergJ (2003) Rationalist and sociological perspectives on the Council Presidency. In: ElgströmO (ed.) European Union Council Presidencies. A Comparative Perspective.
London:
Routledge, pp. 191–205.
21.
European Commission (2008) EU Budget 2008. Financial Report.
Luxembourg:
Publications Office of the European Union.
European Commission (2018) EU Budget 2017. Financial Report.
Luxembourg:
Publications Office of the European Union.
24.
European Union Policy Agendas Project (EUPAP) (2016). Available at: http://www.policyagendas.eu (accessed 5 May 2017).
25.
General Secretariat of the Council of the EU (2015) Handbook of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Luxembourg:
Publications Office of the European Union.
26.
General Secretariat of the Council of the EU (2016) An e-mail from the Head of Unit of the Directorate-General Communication and Information, Knowledge Management and Transparency. Brussels, 7 October 2016.
27.
HagemannSHoboltSBWratilC (2017)
Government responsiveness in the European Union: Evidence from council voting. Comparative Political Studies50(6): 850–876.
28.
HägeFM (2017)
The scheduling power of the EU Council Presidency. Journal of European Public Policy24(5): 695–713.
29.
HoogheLMarksGWilsonCJ (2002)
Does left/right structure party positions on European integration?Comparative Political Studies35(8): 965–989.
30.
Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (2014) Europe: A Fresh Start. Programme of the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
31.
JenningsW (2009)
The public thermostat, political responsiveness and error-correction: Border control and asylum in Britain, 1994–2007. British Journal of Political Science39(4): 847–870.
32.
JenningsWBevanSJohnP (2011)
The agenda of British government: The speech from the throne, 1911–2008. Political Studies59: 74–98.
33.
JensenMD (2014)
Negotiating the morass: Measuring and explaining variation in co-ordination mechanisms in the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy21(9): 1273–1292.
34.
JonesBDBaumgartnerFR (2005) The Politics of Attention: How Government Prioritizes Problems.
Chicago, London:
The University of Chicago Press.
35.
KassimH (2003) Meeting the demands of EU membership: The Europeanization of national administrative systems. In: FeatherstoneKRadaelliC (eds) The Politics of Europeanization.
Oxford:
Oxford University Press, pp. 83–111.
36.
KrauserMWegenastTSchneiderG, et al. (2019)
A gendered resource curse? Mineral ownership, female unemployment and domestic violence in Sub-Saharan Africa. Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung8: 213–237.
37.
LaverM (2001) Estimating the Policy Position of Political Actors.
London, New York:
Routledge.
38.
LeuffenDMalangTWörleS (2014)
Structure, capacity or power? Explaining salience in EU decision-making. Journal of Common Market Studies52(3): 616–631.
39.
LiefferinkDAndersenMS (1998)
Strategies of the ‘green’ member states in EU environmental policy-making. Journal of European Public Policy5(2): 254–270.
40.
MattilaM (2004)
Contested decisions: Empirical analysis of voting in the European Union Council of Ministers. European Journal of Political Research43: 29–50.
41.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011) Programme of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Warsaw.
42.
MoravcsikA (1998) The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht.
Ithaca, New York:
Cornell University Press.
43.
MortensenPBGreen-PedersenCBreemanG, et al. (2011)
Comparing government agendas: Executive speeches in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Denmark. Comparative Political Studies44(8): 973–1000.
44.
PapkeLEWooldridgeJ (2008)
Panel data methods for fractional response variables with an application to test pass rates. Journal of Econometrics145: 121–133.
45.
PomorskaKVanhoonackerS (2012)
Poland in the driving seat: A mature presidency in Turbulent times. Journal of Common Market Studies50: 76–84.
46.
PrincenS (2009) Agenda-Setting in the European Union.
Basingstoke, New York:
Palgrave Macmillan.
47.
PuetterU (2014)
The rotating council presidency and the new intergovernmentalism. The International Spectator49(4): 18–32.
48.
QuagliaLMoxon-BrowneE (2006)
What makes a good EU presidency? Italy and Ireland compared. Journal of Common Market Studies44(2): 349–368.
49.
SchoutA (1998)
The presidency as juggler: Managing conflicting expectations. Eipascope1998(2): 2–10.
50.
SchoutAVanhoonackerS (2006)
Evaluating presidencies of the council of the EU: Revisiting nice. Journal of Common Market Studies44(5): 1051–1077.
51.
SeebergHB (2017)
How stable is political parties’ issue ownership? A cross-time, cross-national analysis. Political Studies65(2): 475–492.
52.
TallbergJ (2003)
The agenda-shaping powers of the EU Council Presidency. Journal of European Public Policy10(1): 1–19.
53.
TallbergJ (2006) Leadership and Negotiation in the European Union.
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo:
Cambridge University Press.
54.
ThomsonR (2001)
The programme to policy linkage: The fulfilment of election pledges on socio-economic policy in the Netherlands, 1986–1998. European Journal of Political Research40: 171–197.
55.
ThomsonRBoerefijnJStokmanF (2004)
Actor alignments in European Union decision making. European Journal of Political Research43(2): 237–261.
United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) (2017) Methodology. Countries or areas/geographical regions. Available at: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/ (accessed 6 August 2017).
58.
Van HeckeSBursensP (2011) Readjusting the Council Presidency: Belgian Leadership in the EU.
Brussels:
Academic and Scientific Publishers.
59.
VilpišauskasR (2014)
Lithuania’s EU council presidency: Negotiating finances, dealing with geopolitics. Journal of Common Market Studies52: 99–108.
60.
VolkensALehmannPMatthießT, et al. (2016) The Manifesto Data Collection. Manifesto Project (MRG/CMP/MARPOR). Version 2016b.
Berlin:
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB).
61.
WarntjenA (2007)
Steering the union. The impact of the EU presidency on legislative activity in the council. Journal of Common Market Studies45(5): 1135–1157.
62.
WarntjenA (2013)
The elusive goal of continuity? Legislative decision-making and the council presidency before and after Lisbon. West European Politics36(6): 1239–1255.
63.
WratilC (2019)
Territorial representation and the opinion–policy linkage: Evidence from the European Union. American Journal of Political Science63(1): 197–211.
64.
WratilCHoboltSB (2019)
Public deliberations in the Council of the European Union: Introducing and validating DICEU. European Union Politics 20(3): 511–531.
65.
ZimmerCSchneiderGDobbinsM (2005)
The contested council: Conflict dimensions of an intergovernmental EU institution. Political Studies53: 403–422.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
