EU Council Presidency Research Articles

Lithuania's EU Council Presidency: Negotiating Finances, Dealing with Geopolitics

JCMS: Journal of Common Market StudiesVolume 52, Issue S1 p. 99-108 Original Article Lithuania's EU Council Presidency: Negotiating Finances, Dealing with Geopolitics† Ramūnas Vilpišauskas, Ramūnas Vilpišauskas Vilnius UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Ramūnas Vilpišauskas, Ramūnas Vilpišauskas Vilnius UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 03 July 2014 https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12164Citations: 7 †I am grateful for reflections on the work of the Lithuanian EU Council Presidency to Dalia Grybauskaitė, Vytenis Andriukaitis, Petras Auštrevičius, Andrius Kubilius, Raimundas Karoblis, Jovita Pranevičiūtė, Arūnas Vinčiūnas, Darius Pranckevičius, Nerijus Aleksiejūnas, Eivilė Čipkutė, Julius Pranevičius, Inga Stanytė-Toločkienė, Neringa Majauskaitė, Ona Kostinaitė-Grinkevičienė, Martynas Barysas and Valdemaras Juozaitis. I am also grateful for comments to Tim Haughton, Nathaniel Copsey, Darius Žeruolis, Klaudijus Maniokas and Bruno Vandecasteele. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume52, IssueS1Special Issue: The JCMS Annual Review of the European Union in 2013September 2014Pages 99-108 RelatedInformation

Assessing EU council presidencies: (Conditions for) success and influence

Assessing EU council presidencies: (Conditions for) success and influence

EURAZIJOS SĄJUNGA AR EUROPOS SĄJUNGA? DILEMA RYTŲ PARTNERYSTĖS ŠALIMS

The author analyzes the Eurasian Customs Union, the motives for its creation, its impact on Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus as well as the perspectives for the further integration of its member states to establish the Eurasian Economic Union. It is argued that the creation of the Eurasian Customs Union is based mostly on the foreign trade policy measures applied by Russia and adopted by the other members of the Union. The Eurasian Union and its institutions such as the Eurasian Economic Commission and Court are seen as agents of the member states, especially Russia, rather than independent supranational actors acting in of the Union’s interests. The Eurasian Union represents a regional entity which is both being modelled on the EU and is intended to provide a competing center of attraction for third countries. The establishment of the Eurasian Customs Union has changed the geopolitical situation in the EU eastern neighborhood by creating an alternative option of regional integration for the EU Eastern Partnership countries. For Ukraine and other countries of the Eastern Partnership, which declare their intention to sign association and deep and comprehensive free trade agreements with the EU, joining the Eurasian Customs Union would imply that the EU will have to negotiate agreements on trade with the Eurasian Union rather than with individual countries. This would significantly postpone the prospects of integration of these countries into the EU. The eastern partners of the EU, therefore, have to choose between two alternatives of integration (and Belarus has already chosen the eastern direction). Meanwhile, the EU has to rethink its own policy towards the Eastern Partnership countries and offer incentives for the further reforms to advance trade liberalization and association with the EU without damaging its own credibility. This is the key issue for the Lithuania’s EU Council Presidency forthcoming in the second half of 2013.

The Influence of the EU Council Presidency on Public Opinion

The Presidency of the EU Council is regarded as an influential and useful instrument for domestic political progress of European integration and the issues it brings along. Many academics as well as politicians assume that the EU Council Presidency, which allows any country to be at the centre of European and world media attention for six months, therefore represents a strong potential for domestic socialization. This article investigates that idea at the level of public, analyzing several EU Council presidencies, and the potential impact of these presidencies on the voters’ attitudes in the Presidency holding countries on key aspects of the EU. The text’s hypothesis refers to the supposition that the EU Presidency in its present form has a positive influence on the support of citizens for European integration and improvement of their information level on the EU.

Transatlantic Security Relations: An Irish Contribution

The June 2004 EU-US summit takes place at a time of great challenge and great opportunity in transatlantic relations. Thus, the Irish Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers has the potential to make an impact upon both the tenor and substance of those relations and, in the longer term, Ireland has its own national contribution to make to that relationship. The Union’s own response to the tragic events in Madrid, within the context of an ongoing battle against terrorism pursued on both sides of the Atlantic, gives a very particular focus to the bilateral agenda in the short to medium term. While much of this agenda is related to domestic security issues, it also has an impact upon bilateral security and defence relationships, EU-NATO relations and the struggle against the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). This paper argues that, despite the challenges which face it, the Transatlantic alliance has the potential to make a positive and significant contribution to international peace and security – and one which focuses upon the roots of instability as well as dealing more effectively with the imminent physical threats that derive from such instability. It argues that the European Union and the United States have differing but perhaps complementary strengths and that the Irish EU Council Presidency has an opportunity to contribute to the development of a positive, strong and effective bilateral agenda.

European survey on decontamination in mass casualty incidents

The goal of this study is to assess the European status in the case of mass casualties regarding legislation, responsibilities of ministries and organizations, education and training, material and equipment, and bottlenecks. A questionnaire answered by 22 of 27 European Union member states and Croatia, Norway, and Switzerland. Results and recommendations of a European expert's workshop on decontamination of victims of mass casualties. Ministries and responsible organizations of 22 European Union member states Croatia, Norway, and Switzerland. Hazardous chemical agents are a global realistic risk. Therefore it is an important obligation to direct education, service activities and research towards priority concerns of prevention and response in case of an accidental or criminal liberation of toxic chemicals. The most effective procedures to save the life and health of contaminated persons are: (1) The decontamination of chemically contaminated casualties as soon as possible reduces both morbidity and mortality. (2) The removal of clothing as the first stage of the decontamination process reduces the amount of contamination by 75-85 percent. The decontamination in case of a mass casualty incident needs a high number of personnel, personal protection equipment (PPE), a decontamination unit, education and permanent training, and a management of command, communication, and coordination; all these in the shortest time of preparedness, reaction, and cross border nationally and internationally. During the German EU Council Presidency in the first 6 months of 2007 the Federal Ministry of the Interior held a 3 days seminar (Ahrweiler, February 22-24, 2007) on the "Decontamination of Casualties Involved in Incidents with Hazardous Chemical Materials--European Inventory and Perspectives." The aim was to arrange an exchange of information and experience on the various systems in place in Europe which would be beneficial to all parties concerned. The seminar was organized by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance. (1) Results of a nine question enquiry, (2) results of four workgroups with the focus on medicine, organization, equipment, and education. In most countries, the medical sector is the weakest part of the integrated approach. Decontamination has two goals: to decontaminate the casualties and to avoid secondary contamination of personnel, equipment, and institutions (hospitals). The most effective method for decontamination is to undress patients as soon as possible. The procedures for undressing, triage, basic life support, etc have to be evidence based by research. Cooperation between MS should be developed including transborder cooperation, designing modules in the framework of the EU Mechanism, and considering reinforcement between MS as precautionary measures, for example, for major international events. Interoperability of equipment is recommended and achievable. Need for European inventory of decontamination units. Need for national stockpiles of antidotes and drugs as well as logistics. The following recommendations were given to the EU Commission: Organize focused experts meetings on the above mentioned subjects. Promote common exercises. Collect and promote best practices by supporting research for evidence-based results. Promote crossborder cooperation and possibly preplanned reinforcements.

Tackling barriers to treatment access: The need for stakeholders dialogue

Rare diseases, which are often complex genetic conditions that are either life threatening or chronic and debilitating, are rightly seen as a growing public health priority in the European Union. The European Union considers a disease to be “rare” if it does not affect more than “1 per 2,000 persons”. It is estimated, that there are between six to seven thousand identified rare diseases to date, with approximately five new diseases described every week in the medical literature [1]. Both the European Commission and several EU Council Presidencies have identified Rare Diseases as a key area in healthcare policy. The recently published European Commission proposals outline the necessary steps for an efficient policy addressing the issue of rare diseases in Europe. http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph threats/non com/ rare 10 en.htm. It is within this context that increased attention is being given by the EU to rare plasma related disorders.

Call for action: Rare plasma related disorders

Rare Diseases are rightly seen as a growing European health priority. Both the European Commission and several EU Council Presidencies have held Rare Diseases as a priority area in healthcare policy. Many Rare Diseases cannot be diagnosed or treated. Rare plasma disorders can be diagnosed and successfully treated, but unacceptable diagnosis rates for some plasma disorders means that treatment can only begin late, or not at all. We believe that the European Commission proposals are a positive step that must be supported by EU Member States. Rare Diseases include over 200 plasma protein disorders such as Haemophilia, Primary Immunodeficiencies,Guillain-Barre syndrome,C1 inhibitor deficiencies and Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency many of which are treated with therapies derived from human plasma. The rarity of some of these disorders often means that information on treatment options, symptoms, diagnosis and access to treatment is not optimal and that unnecessary associated healthcare costs are incurred due to a higher rate of hospitalisation, increased number of missed days of school and work and increased infection rates. We assert and emphasize that the following actions should be supported by the European Parliament, European Commission and European Council:

Change and Stability of the EU Institutional System: the Communitarization of the Council Presidency

The aim of this article is to demonstrate the usefulness of taking into account the variable of EU institutional development when analysing the dilemma of the Council Presidency in terms of role conception. Using a historical institutionalist perspective, the article examines the path of the EU Council Presidency since its origins and argues that five decades of institutional feedback have altered its nature. Originally conceived as an intergovernmental function, today the Presidency is identified increasingly with the defence of Community interests. This process of institutional conversion has essentially limited the scope of action of the member states.

Junior Partner Canada

We know that the friendly ties between Europe and the United States and Canada are unique and without alternative. There is no lack of shared challenge. I believe they are more likely to increase than decrease. But we know together as partners we are strong.1During the course of Germany's EU council presidency in 2007, Canada was mentioned often in official speeches, government documents, and petitions. Nonetheless, EU-Canadian economic integration was not a serious priority for Germany-or for that matter the European Union. The EU-Canada economic partnership project remained vague in design and scope; there was no mention of free trade or a transatlantic marketplace. Instead, Chancellor Angela Merkel concentrated on an EU-US-centred transatlantic marketplace. This article outlines and explains the dominance of the United States in Merkel' s transatlantic market place initiative. The first part analyses official documents and speeches from Germany's EU council presidency to show how and when Canada appears on Merkel' s transatlantic agenda. The second part of the article explains Canada's role in transatlantic economic relations by evaluating commercial ties, interests, and strategies. The article concludes that the fate of the EU-Canada economic partnership project depends very much on high-level support on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as the development of a clear vision. Otherwise the initiative is destined to fail, as have many of its predecessors.GERMANY'S EU PRESIDENCY: APUSH FOR DEEPER TRANSATLANTIC INTEGRATION? EU-US ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND THE TRANSATLANTIC MARKETPLACEOn 1 January 2007, Germany took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union. During its tenure, Germany proved to be a strong strategic leader with regard to transatlantic economic integration. The initiative for a transatlantic marketplace came directly from the chancellery and was driven at the highest political level from fall 2006. In contrast to other trade issues on the presidency's agenda, the chancellery was in charge of Merkels transatlantic initiative, with the groundwork being carried out by the federal ministry of economics and technology (BMWi) and the federal foreign ministry, via their respective country desks.The chancellor announced her idea to create a transatlantic free trade area in September 2006, reacting to the lack of progress in the WTO Doha round of negotiations and rising global competition due to the economic emergence of China and India. At first Merkel's initiative, which was at the time still vague, caused reactions in Berlin and Brussels that ranged from the reserved to the outright critical. It was not clear what she had in mind, a free trade area along the lines of previous proposals or deeper internal market integration. The idea of using a European-US free trade area as a bulwark against the leading emerging economies was particularly strongly criticized. Bernd Pfaffenbach, state secretary in the BMWi, described the initiative as the deathblow of the Doha round. EU Commissioner Peter Mandelson warned that the rest of the world would react with dismay if the two largest economic powers agreed to exclusive trade preferences.2.Above all, the idea of a transatlantic FTA met with resistance because it is no longer deemed appropriate, given that free trade agreements have hardly any effect on non-tariff barriers (FTAs, by definition, focus on the elimination of tariffs). Average customs duties in transatlantic trade, with the exception of some areas with high import tariffs, such as trade in agriculture and textiles, are now extremely low-less than four percent. The problem lies with non-tariff barriers, which continue to represent a serious impediment to market access. These barriers are to be found in standards set for industrial goods-in testing, licensing, and accounting-as well as in customs systems and in the area of government procurement. According to the OECD, liberalizing transatlantic trade could therefore result in considerable growth of up to three percent of GDP for both trade partners. …

The Council Presidency

The potential impact of the EU Council Presidency on legislative decision-making has been frequently identified. This article provides an empirical analysis of the Presidency's influence on decision outcomes based on a large-n data set. Two counterfactuals are used to represent consensual decision-making and hard bargaining in the Council. The role of supranational actors is controlled for directly. The findings show that a member state benefits from holding the Presidency during the final stages of the legislative proceedings. Besides the support of supranational actors, the regression analysis controls for the voting threshold, the type of proposal and salience.

“So, the European Union is 50…”

Canadians in particular are in danger of becoming Europhobic the result of hostile media coverage of Europe.... That is mistake, because the EU - portrayed by the media bloated, antidemocratic superstate - has been success story in creating an economically powerful union of 27 countries.1Whether Canadians will become as Europhobic the British is to some extent in the hands of the media, who play vital sociopolitical role. Since reality is partially discursively constructed, it is in essence the media's role to either frame the European Union - and its institutions, activities, and peoples - a bloated, anti-democratic superstate, or instead a success story, suggested by Klaus Hansen, former president of the European parliament. In this article, it is our goal to identify and analyze the linguistic means and strategies used to represent the EU in Canadian print media. We are particularly interested in the ways in which the E U' s 50th anniversary celebrated at time when Germany assumed the helm of the European Union (e.g., the presidency of the EU Council) - was covered by multiple media sources. While coverage of the EU tends to be rather sporadic and only intensifies in times of transatlantic crises (i.e., during the 1995 turbot war or the banning of Canadian seal fur products from European markets), this event provided unique opportunity for the media to report on the EU in broader terms, in ways somewhat detached from day-to-day business. Furthermore, it presented distinctive occasion to contemplate the advantages and disadvantages of the European project.We assume that both the presence and effectiveness of the EU on the world stage are fundamentally dependent on the ways it is recognized and constructed political entity. Media influence the ways expectations are generated vis-a-vis the European Union and its capabilities to deliver tangible results global actor. It has been noted that the existence of public that is shared amongst the citizens of the EU constitutes necessary condition for the democratization of the complex system of EU governance in general.2. The lack thereof is considered to be one of the root causes of the alleged democratic deficit. We argue that media play critical role in both respects - part of the problem and the solution - ultimately depending upon the ways they report E U- related issues. While the importance of an internal EU sphere has been emphasized in the literature, it is interesting to note that academic research has largely ignored the roles assumed by the media in creating the E U' s image abroad. Only very recently have some academics launched research projects to examine the E U' s perception in third countries in general and in Canada in particular.3This article is divided into four parts. The first describes our methodological design, the critical discourse analysis. This is followed by an overview of the history of the relationship between Canada and the EU. Next, we provide an example of discursive analysis of one of the topics that we have identified in our corpus. Selected media representations of the EU's 50th anniversary on 25 March 2007 are examined within the framework of our analysis. This is followed by brief assessment of the representation of the German EU council presidency in Canada's national print media. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the results of our analyses and discusses implications for future research.CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSISCritical discourse analysis has demonstrated rather successfully the many ways in which language use is linked to wider social and cultural processes.4 Scholars of discursive analysis start from assumptions that language and human society are inextricable and that much of the life and experience people share broadly occurs through language. They agree that discourse is practical and social activity reflecting and reproducing culture; it can therefore only be fully understood and analyzed in relation to the situations, institutions, and sociopolitical- s ocio cultural structures that frame particular discursive event. …

Pharmaceutical innovation: Possibilities and limits of personalised medicine1, 2

In the framework of the German EU Council Presidency, the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, an expert conference on Pharmaceutical Innovation - Possibilities and Limits of Personalised Medicine was held in Bonn, on June 11-12, 2007. It was financially supported by the European Commission. The conference aimed to intensify a sustainable networking among the participants and develop robust concepts for the future design of pharmaceutical research and production within the EU. To this end, various stakeholders from the fields of pharmaceutical research, production and licensing were brought together. This publication summarises the main results of the conference. It may reflect the personal views of the individual contributors and is not necessarily the perspective of the Federal Ministry of Health or of the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices.

Europe - Future oncology healthcare strategy on the agenda of the Portuguese EU council presidency

Europe - Future oncology healthcare strategy on the agenda of the Portuguese EU council presidency

Internal Policies: Reinforcing the New Lisbon Message of Competitiveness and Innovation

The reinvigorated Lisbon strategy was one of the central priorities of the Austrian and Finnish EU Council presidencies of 2006. Beyond a rhetorical commitment, two major pieces of legislation under the Lisbon strategy – the Services directive and the REACH (registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals) regulation – were agreed during the year. The priorities of the Austrian and Finnish presidencies also reflected the postKok Report revised goals of the Lisbon strategy, giving primacy to competitiveness and job creation over social and environmental protection. The two presidencies’ most substantial internal policy accomplishments thus concerned competitiveness, in the sense of liberalization and lowering the regulatory burden. This article examines the main internal policy developments in 2006 in terms of the renewed focus of the Lisbon strategy. It begins by providing a brief overview of the Lisbon strategy before developing its arguments: the aims of the Austrian and Finnish presidencies incorporated the revised goals for the Lisbon strategy after the Kok Report and the substantive achievements of the two Council presidencies also reflect these goals. This article then examines legislative and policy developments during the year in this context, focusing in particular upon the Services directive and REACH as the two most important internal legislative developments of 2006 – and arguably the decade. JCMS 2007 Volume 45 Annual Review pp. 89–106

The Spirit of the Time: Revise the European Constitution to Protect National Parliamentary Democracy

Without doubt, the European Union has come to a crossroads. Following the failure of the proposed Constitution in the referendums in France and The Netherlands, it is now vital to take stock of the situation in order to develop an overall concept for how European integration can and should progress from this point. Germany's EU Council Presidency provides an opportunity to hold this discussion. However, the fair-weather talk about Europe, currently being heard from all political sides, is no help at all. People are ill-at-ease and increasingly reserved and sceptical about the European Union, because they can no longer make sense of the integration process, because they can't shake off the feeling of an ever stronger, increasingly inappropriate centralisation of competencies, and because they cannot see who is responsible for which policies. These concerns must be taken very seriously, particularly because they are not simply imaginary.

The `Fusion' Perspective Revisited

This article provides an assessment of the Danish 2002 EU Council Presidency's handling of the EU enlargement portfolio. The article is innovative in using fusion approaches to enhance the conceptual understanding of the priorities of the Danish government while holding the EU Council Presidency

`Filling in the Gaps'

The article reflects upon the domestic utility of EU Council Presidencies for EU countries and argues that these considerations should be foremost in the minds of future architect of EU Treaties

The agenda-shaping powers of the EU Council Presidency

Existing literature is overwhelmingly sceptical about the capacity of the Council Presidency to shape the EU agenda. The Presidency's ability to promote private concerns is considered highly limited and, typically, the Presidency is depicted as a "responsabilité sans pouvior'. This article challenges the conventional wisdom on theoretical and empirical grounds. Theoretically, it develops a conceptual framework that expands the notion of influence, by distinguishing between three forms of agenda-shaping: agenda-setting, agenda-structuring and agenda exclusion. In this exercise, I draw on theories of bargaining and decision- making developed in international relations and American politics. Empirically, the article provides an inventory of the instruments available to the Presidency within each form of agenda-shaping, as well as illustrative cases that demonstrate how Presidencies regularly influence outcomes in EU policy-making. Illustrations are drawn primarily from the six consecutive Presidencies in the period 1999- 2001: Germany, Finland, Portugal, France, Sweden and Belgium.

A Research Agenda

This dedicated symposium evaluates the Swedish 2001 EU Council Presidency with Lee Miles as guest editor