The President of the European Council and Other Formats of Presidency in the European Union: (Un)Constructive Ambiguity in the EU Political System

Aleksandra Szczerba-Zawada

Abstract


The semi-permanent presidency of the European Council, introduced by virtue of the Lisbon Treaty, has restructured the organizational space of the EU presidency, becoming the new leadership centre in the EU institutional engineering. Consequently the institutional balance in the whole system has been changed, however without a clear jurisdictional delimitation of the competences between the components of this multi-centre political system. In the imprecisely defined conceptual framework of the new space of the EU presidency, there exists a question of the possibility of various levels multiplying and overlapping with each other, giving rise to a potential conflict of power in this area.

The aim of this article is to provide the assessment of the scope of implications of the introduced changes on the basis of analysis of the structural relations between the President of the European Council and his institutional partners in the EU hybrid presidency system, i.e. the President of the European Commission, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the rotating country presidency. This scientific problem seems to be of both theoretical and practical relevance with respect to the just initiated term of office of new President of the European Council – Donald Tusk.


Keywords


EU Presidency; President of the European Council; High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; President of the European Commission

Full Text:

PDF

References


Bunse S., Small States and EU Governance. Leadership through the Council Presidency, Basingstoke 2009, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9780230234345.

Bunse S., Klein C., What’s Left of the Rotating Presiency? The Future of ‘National’ Presidencies, [in:] The European Council and European Governance. The Commanding Heights of the EU, eds. F. Foret, Y.-S. Rittelmeyer, London – New York 2014.

Closa C., Institutional Innovation in the EU: The ‘Permanent’ Presidency of the European Council, [in:] The EU’s Lisbon Treaty. Institutional Choices and Implementation, ed. F. Laursen, Farnham 2012.

Craig P., The President of the European Council, [in:] Europe’s Constitutional Challenges in the Light of the Recent Case Law of National Constitutional Courts. Lisbon and Beyond, eds. J.M. Beneyto, I. Pernice, Baden-Baden 2011, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5771/9783845233109-203.

Crum B., Accountability and Personalisation of the European Council Presidency, “Journal of European Integration” 2009, Vol. 31, No. 6, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07036330903199853.

Curtin P., Executive Power of the European Union. Law, Practices and the Living Constitution, Oxford – New York 2009.

Dinan D., Governance and Institutions: Implementing the Lisbon Treaty in the Shadow of the Euro Crisis, “Journal of Common Market Studies” 2011, Vol. 49, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5965.2011.02183.x.

Dudzik S., System instytucjonalny Unii Europejskiej w Konstytucji dla Europy. Zarys problematyki, [in:] Konstytucja dla Europy. Przyszły fundament Unii Europejskiej, red. S. Dudzik, Kraków 2005.

Eggermont F., The Changing Role of the European Council in the Institutional Framework of the European Union. Consequences for the European Integration Process, Cambridge – Antwerp – Portland 2012.

European Council Decision of 1 December 2009 adopting its Rules of Procedure (2009/882/EU), O.J. 2009, L 315/51.

European Parliament resolution of 7 May 2009 on the impact of the Treaty of Lisbon on the development of the institutional balance of the European Union (O.J. 2010, C 212E/12. 2008/2073(INI)).

Fernández Pasarín A.M., The Commmutarization of the Council Presidency. Intra-Institutional Dimensions and Inter-Institutional Effect, [in:] The European Council and European Governance. The Commanding Heights of the EU, eds. F. Foret, Y.-S. Rittelmeyer, London – New York 2014.

Galster J., Równowaga instytucjonalna jako kategoria doktrynalna, orzecznicza i normatywna. Studium zasady Unii Europejskiej, Toruń 2008.

Galster J., Knade-Plaskacz A., E pluribus unum. Koherencja UE jako organizacji międzynarodowej, [in:] Unia Europejska: zjednoczeni w różnorodności, red. C. Mik, Warszawa 2012.

Grzeszczak R., Władza wykonawcza w systemie Unii Europejskiej, Warszawa 2011.

Hayes-Renshaw F., Wallace H., The Council of Ministers, Basingstoke 2006.

Jesień L., The European Union Presidency. Institutionalized Procedure of Political Leadership, Bern 2013, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3726/978-3-0351-0531-5.

Kremczyńska K., Nowe stanowiska wysokiego przedstawiciela Unii oraz przewodniczącego Rady Europejskiej w systemie instytucjonalnym UE, „Biuletyn Polskiego Instytutu Spraw Międzynarodowych” 2009, nr 76.

Krystyniak M., Rola przewodniczącego Rady Europejskiej w stosunkach zewnętrznych UE, „Biuletyn Polskiego Instytutu Spraw Międzynarodowych” 2003, nr 61.

Nowak-Far A., Prezydencja w Unii Europejskiej – interpretacje teoretyczne, [in:] Prezydencja w Unii Europejskiej. Instytucje, prawo i organizacja, red. A. Nowak-Far, Warszawa 2010.

Nowak-Far A., Przewodnictwo w organizacjach międzynarodowych – przegląd praktyki, [in:] Prezydencja w Unii Europejskiej. Instytucje, prawo i organizacja, red. A. Nowak-Far, Warszawa 2010.

Peterson J., Byrne A., Helwing N., International Interests: the Common Foreign and Security Policy, [in:] The Institutions of the European Union, eds. J. Peterson, M. Shackleton, Oxford 2012.

Radtke K., The EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) after the Lisbon Treaty: Supranational Revolution or Adherence to Intergovernmental Pattern?, [in:] The EU’s Lisbon Treaty. Institutional Choices and Implementation, ed. F. Laursen, Farnham 2012.

Rüger C., A Position under Construction: Future Prospects of the High Representative after Treaty of Lisbon, [in:] The High Representative for the EU Foreign and Security Policy – Review and Prospects, eds. G. Müller-Brandeck-Bocqut, C. Rüger, Baden-Baden 2011.

Sap J.W., The European President, “European Constitutional Law Review” 2005, Vol. 1.

Szczerba-Zawada A., Pozycja ustrojowa Rady Europejskiej w systemie instytucjonalnym Unii Europejskiej, Warszawa 2013.

Szczerba-Zawada A., Przewodniczący Rady Europejskiej, czyli o postlizbońskiej formule przewodnictwa w Radzie Europejskiej, „Przegląd Sejmowy” 2014, nr 4.

Świeboda P., System instytucjonalny Unii Europejskiej w Traktacie z Lizbony – konsekwencje i wyzwania, [in:] Traktat z Lizbony – postanowienia, ocena, implikacje, red. K. Smyk, Warszawa 2008.

The Treaty of Lisbon: A Second Look at the Institutional Innovations. Joint CEPS, EGMONT and EPC Study, Brussels 2010.

Van Hecke S., Bursens P., The Concil Presidency and the European Council. Towards Collective Leadership in the EU, [in:] The European Council and European Governance. The Commanding Heights of the EU, eds. F. Foret, Y.-S. Rittelmeyer, London – New York 2014.

Waele H. de, Broeksteeg H., The Semi-Permanent European Council Presidency: Some Reflections on the Law and Early Practice, “Common Market Law Review” 2012, Vol. 49.

Werts J., The European Council, London 2008.

Witkowska-Chrzczonowicz K., Prezydencja w Radzie Unii Europejskiej, [in:] M. Czyżniewski, K. Witkowska-Chrzczonowicz, Prezydencja Republiki Czeskiej w Radzie Unii Europejskiej. Studium prawno-politologiczne, Warszawa 2011.

Wójtowicz K., Projekt Traktatu ustanawiającego Konstytucję dla Europy – podstawy ustroju i porządku prawnego Unii Europejskiej, „Przegląd Sejmowy” 2004, nr 2.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/sil.2016.25.2.193
Date of publication: 2016-07-20 09:05:40
Date of submission: 2015-05-18 09:01:19


Statistics


Total abstract view - 683
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF - 0

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2016 Aleksandra Szczerba-Zawada

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.