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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Size Matters… And Age Too - Differentiated Integration Approach to the Functions of the EU Council Rotating Presidency

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The objective of this paper is to present how the roles attributed to the institution of the EU Council Rotating Presidency changed after the reform of the Lisbon Treaty. It argues that the legal modifications introduced by the treaty brought about some further going changes of the roles performed by the EU member state presiding the EU Council. The analysis goes beyond simple reading the Reform Treaty and focuses on the perceptions and expectations towards the Rotating Presidency (as understood by the logic of appropriateness). The change of perceptions regarding the roles of the Rotating Presidency is seen in relation to the level of the council system and its field of competence. As a result this study delivers a map of roles (expected behavior in a given institutional setting) according to their salience, as well as the level and the competence area of the Council. The explanatory variables employed go also along the lines: old / new and big / small member states, which makes it possible to identify the relatively important differences in the roles prescribed for the new and small as well as the old and big member states chairing the EU Council. The study is based on the analysis of the perceptions and expectations towards the Presidency gathered from experts (dealing with the presidency on practical or more theoretical grounds) in the form of questionnaires and, complementary, semi-structured interviews