McKibben, Heather Elko. (2007) The Rotating Council Presidency: Solution to the Negotiation Dilemma. In: UNSPECIFIED, Montreal, Canada. (Unpublished)
Abstract
What role does the rotating Council Presidency play in the European Union (EU)? A debate exists in the literature as to whether the Council Presidency is neutral and weak, or plays a strong role in the European Union, through its agenda-setting powers and leadership role in negotiations. Drawing on the mechanism design literature, I argue that the rotating Council Presidency plays a central role in the negotiation of EU legislation within the Council institutions, helping to solve the ‘negotiation dilemma.’ Further, addressing this debate in the literature, I argue that, rather than expected neutrality representing a weakness of the Presidency position, a large part of the important role that the Council Presidency plays in the EU stems directly from this characteristic. To evaluate this argument empirically, I draw on interview evidence gathered in 2005 and 2006 with members of COREPER and the Working Groups of the Council institutions.
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