Title: Leadership in the European Union: Assessing the Influence of the French-Czech-Swedish Trio Council Presidency*
Abstract: In a European Union of 27+ member states, it is essential to question the capacity for leadership to drive the integration process forward in the 21st century. In this context, how probable is it to open a negotiation space in which as many members as possible can identify their interests in agreements that address the objectives these different states want to achieve? (Guerot 2004, 285-298; Mazzucelli, Guerot and Metz 2007, 158-177) This analysis considers the emerging role of the already established Trio or Team Presidency, which is a grouping of three successive six-month presidencies of the Council held by different member states for a period lasting eighteen months. In September 2006, the Council of the European Union laid down the following in its amended Rules of Procedure: Every 18 months, the three Presidencies due to hold office shall prepare, in close cooperation with the Commission, and after appropriate consultations, a draft programme of Council activities for that period.i Cooperation in the Trio Presidency aims to enhance the continuity of the Council's work and to increase the sustainability over time of the initiatives dealt within its institutional structure as a negotiating forum for the EU member states. This cooperation is different from the `Troika,' which represents the European Union in external relations that fall within the scope of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP). Since the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Troika has brought together: the foreign affairs minister of the member state holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union; the Secretary General/High Representative of the common foreign and security policy; and the European Commissioner responsible for external relations and European neighborhood policy. In order to address the puzzle of why the Trio Presidency, which lacks the attributes of an institution or a state, may be acceptable to a majority of the Union's members, it is important to consider the traditional sources of leadership and their capacity, or lack thereof, to drive integration. The traditional sources that have supplied leadership are French-German cooperation, working in tandem with the European Commission, and the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council. The literature on the agenda-shaping role of the Presidency, which takes rational choice as well as sociological perspectives to interpret the leadership performance of the Presidency, provides the basis for subsequent analysis. The argument set forth asks if a Trio Presidency has the potential to respond to a demand for leadership through privileged agenda control by employing a design that fits integration dynamics well. Can the requirements of increasing coordination within Trio Presidencies and a particular rotation dynamic function simultaneously enhance stability and avoid a concentration of agenda-shaping powers?
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 4
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