Small States and EU Governance: Leadership Through the Council Presidency(St Antony's Series)

The rotating Council presidency took the centre stage in the EU's recent institutional reform debates disclosing a deep divide between the big and small Member States. While the former sought its abolition, the latter fiercely defended it. This divide resurfaced in the 2008 referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The Irish rejected the treaty in part due to their concerns over the new institutional arrangements which contain the most fundamental reform of the Council presidency to date and over the balance between small and big Member States. This book investigates the tension between big and small states in the EU by taking a closer look at an institution that had long been ignored by EU scholars: the Council presidency. The literature has traditionally seen the presidency as a neutral, administrative task that is particularly irksome for the small. This gives rise to two inter-linked questions: a) why has the presidency reform been so contentious? and b) why are especially the small states such adamant supporters of the rotating office? Simon Bunse seeks answers to this puzzle by examining the political objectives the presidency serves and presenting a systematic and comparative assessment of its nature and influence in internal market and foreign policy issues. Her book is one of the most in-depth accounts of this institution to date, how to exert leadership in the EU, and of the factors that condition a presidency's success.

Table of Contents:
Introduction The Presidency within the EU's Institutional Balance and its Evolution The Presidency as a Policy Entrepreneur The Finnish 1999 Presidency The Belgian 2001 Presidency The Greek 2003 Presidency Conclusion

About the Author :
SIMONE BUNSE is Assistant Professor at the INCAE Business School, Costa Rica. She holds a DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford, UK and is a former visiting researcher at the Free University of Brussels. Her work focuses on institutions and leadership in the EU. She has published on the 2003 Greek Council Presidency and co-published with Paul Magnette and Kalypso NicolaIdis on Power Politics in the Convention in Leadership in the Big Bangs of European Integration.

Review :
'The Council of Ministers is the least known institution of the European Union among the public. Although it consists of the representatives of the governments of the Member States and thus by definition ought to be in close contact with the European citizens, the doings and makings of the Council fall in the shadow of the European Commission and the European Parliament. A gradual opening of the decision making process of the Council to the public has improved the situation to some extent. Dr Bunse has written an outstanding book on the proceedings of the Council. Her deep understanding of how the Presidency works, on what can be achieved in a short period of six months, on the premises of setting the agenda and translating it into concrete results, and on the interplay between the Council of Ministers, the European Commission and the European Parliament is a fascinating read and gives a rare insight for the reader. This book is recommended to scholars, practitioners and anyone who has an active interest in the European integration process.' - Jan Store, Permanent Representative of Finland to the European Union and Deputy Permanent Representative at the time of the first Finnish Presidency in 1999 'An excellent book on an important subject. Dr Bunse provides intellectual rigour and much scope for reflection on an institution whose role is frequently misunderstood by scholars and practitioners alike. In addressing the role of the rotating Presidency, and providing a useful critique of schemes to replace it with something more permanent, she provides food for thought for those involved in any future revision of the EU treaties. More broadly, in explaining the role of the Presidency in Institutionalist terms as an instance of intergovernmental entrepreneurship, she also challenges much of the extant literature which argues, or assumes, that it is supranationalism alone which renders integration effective.' -- Anand Menon, Director of the European Research Institute and Professor of West European Politics, University of Birmingham, UK