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ABSTRACT
How to manage a successful Council presidency continues to be a subject for debate. The literature has come a long way in identifying the roles and tasks of the presidencies. The debate is about the powers they have and the normative constraints they face while performing these roles. This paper focuses on how presidencies can effectively manage internal Council debates. We suggest a three-step mechanism that links performance to success. We subsequently perform a process tracing analysis of five Council presidencies and assess their relative performance in one (prioritized) issue area: the EU's Balkan enlargement policies. We argue that success depends on the fit between the Chair's and the Council's consecutive moves, in which the former has a first mover disadvantage. This explains why it has proven so difficult for presidencies to fulfil the roles that, with hindsight, were required.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the editors and anonymous referees for their helpful comments and encouragements.
Notes
1 Sandrino Smeets participated in the Council Working Party on the Western Balkans (Coweb). More information on the methods for data collection can be found on his website, available at www.ru.nl/fm/smeets
2 Impartiality is also referred to as fairness or neutrality. We define neutrality as not having a position and impartiality as not taking a position. Fairness is considered a synonym of impartiality. Since presidencies are seldom (expected to be) neutral on matters, we focus only on impartiality.
3 Author's interviews, Council Secretariat Policy Unit and Working Party level, 10 November 2010, 14 January 2011.
4 From December 1995 to June 1997, Bildt was the first High Representative installed by the international community to oversee post-war developments in Bosnia.
5 Author's interviews, Working Party level, 27 May 2010, 14 July 2010.
6 2425th General Affairs Council Meeting, Brussels, 13 May 2002. Western Balkans.
7 Author's interviews, PSC and Working Party level, Greek presidency, 8 July 2010, 10 February 2011.
8 Coweb capitals 2 April and 14 May 2003. Internal reports, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
9 Author's interview, Commission (Director) level, 28 June 2010.
10 Author's interviews, Working Party level, 27 May 2010, 14 July 2010, 14 January 2011.
11 ‘Declaration of the EU-Western Balkans Summit’, Thessaloniki, 21 June 2003, Part 3.
12 Author's interview, Working Party level, UK presidency, 14 December 2010.
13 On Serbia the Commission had just adopted a feasibility study; on Bosnia it issued a favourable communiqué on the progress made; on Macedonia it suggested the awarding of candidate status.
14 This approach was used in the debates about signing the SAAs with Serbia and Bosnia, which spanned the Coweb meetings of 20 July, 25 July, 5 September, 8 September, 12 September, 15 September, 22 September and 26 September 2005. Internal reports, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
15 Coweb, 17 November and 1 December 2005, Coreper 1 December, 6 December, 8 December 2005. Internal reports, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. European Council meeting, Brussels, 15/16 December 2005. Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
16 Author's interview, Working Party level, Austrian presidency, 10 November 2010.
17 Author's interviews, Working Party level, 17 May 2011, 23 June 2011.
18 Coweb, 1 December 2005. Internal report, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
19 2706th General Affairs Council meeting, Brussels, 30 January 2006. Western Balkans.
20 Coweb, 10 January, 2 March, 3 March, 6 March 2006, Coreper 8 March 2006, Council 11 March 2006. Internal reports, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
21 Agence Europe, 14 March 2006: 4–5. Statement of Austrian Foreign Minister, Ursula Plassnik. EU/Western Balkans.
22 ‘EU/Western Balkans Joint Press Statement’, Salzburg, 11 March 2006: 2.
23 2728th External Relations Council meeting, Brussels, 15 May 2006. Western Balkans.
24 Author's interviews, PSC and Working Party level, Slovene presidency, 27 July 2010, 3 July 2012.
25 Author's interviews, Coweb level, 17 December 2009, 10 February 2011.
26 2859th External Relations Council meeting, Brussels, 10 March 2008. Bosnia and Herzegovina.
27 Agence Europe, 5 January 2008: 3. EU/Serbia.
28 EU Observer, 25 April 2008: ‘Netherlands prepared for creative solution on Serbia’.
29 2864th, 2865th and 2870th General Affairs and External Relations Council meetings, Luxembourg, 29 April 2008, 26/27 May 2008. Western Balkans. Bosnia and Herzegovina.
30 Author's interview, Working Party level, Swedish presidency, 3 November 2010.
31 Author's interview, Maxime Verhagen, Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs (2007–2010), The Hague, 2012.
32 This was at the 2971th External Relations Council meeting, Brussels, 27 October 2009.
33 2984th General Affairs Council meeting, Brussels, 7 December 2009. Conclusions on Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: 32. Internal report, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
34 The Balkans were discussed at all GAERC meetings during the Greek and Slovenian presidencies and at all but one meeting during the British, Austrian and Swedish presidencies.
Additional information
Sandrino Smeets is Assistant Professor in Political Science and Research Methodology at the Institute for Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Jac Vennix is Professor in Research Methodology at the Institute for Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.