The Power of the Chair: Formal Leadership by the Council Presidency

Abstract

Since the late 1950s, the Presidency of the EC has rotated between the member states on a six-monthly basis. The government that holds the Presidency is responsible for the chairmanship of the working groups, committees and ministerial meetings in the Council of Ministers, as well as the summits of the European Council. In this chapter, which summarizes a book-length study (Tallberg 2006), I claim that the Presidency office over the years has developed into a power platform in EU politics, permitting governments at the helm to engage in formal leadership. Presidencies fulfil agenda-management, brokerage and representation functions that make it more likely for EU negotiations to succeed, and possess privileged informational and procedural resources that make it possible to steer negotiations toward the agreements they most prefer.