Author: Austė Vaznonytė

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

The Treaty of Lisbon has produced deep changes to the EU institutional structure and its internal balance of powers. It has reshuffled powers between institutional actors and curbed the responsibilities of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU in fields characterised by ‘high politics’. This paper discusses the institutional framework shaped by the Treaty of Lisbon, and provides an overview of the new, post-Lisbon roles of the rotating Presidency. Against this backdrop, the paper shows that the rotating chair maintains relevant roles in managing the Council agenda and in the legislative process, especially when representing the Council in trilogues. In addition, the paper examines how the rotating Presidencies dealt with crises in the post-Lisbon period. The analysis shows that asymmetric shocks tend to increase general disagreements in the Council, while shocks affecting countries in similar ways allow the Presidency to display effective leadership. These situations of urgency offer small member states the opportunity to take the initiative and engage in policy entrepreneurship, and to shape EU policymaking in ways which would otherwise likely be out of reach. All in all, the rotating Presidency is still considered a rare opportunity for the member states to put forward certain priorities, and it should not be neglected in the post-Lisbon times. Since crisis management is an integral element of almost every Presidency, policy flexibility and sufficient resources should be devoted by national governments to their activities as rotating chairs to act as efficient entrepreneurs of compromise.