Trio matters? : the case of Slovene EU Council presidency

Udovič, Boštjan (author), Svetličič, Marjan (author)

The goal of the article is to test if the selected theoretical expectation on small states behaviour in chairing the EU Council can indeed be empirically substantiated on the case of Slovenian presidency of EU Council in 2008, particularly the role of the Trio. It was done on the basis of a survey among major presidency actors (407 respondents) and in-depth interviews. Research questions like: (i) is Trio from of presidency substantial assistance to new member states, (ii) is the role of Trio different in different stages of presidency, (iii) can a small state be an agenda-setter and (iv) are there asymmetries among Trio members, were tested. Although it is impossible to generalize on one country case only, we established that Trio was less relevant than theoretically/policy expected. Its role was much more important in preparation stages, while rather irrelevant in the operation stage when presiding state is basically on its own. Results call for changes in the Trio as a form of presidency.

• Language: English
• Work type: Not categorized
• Typology: 1.08 - Published Scientific Conference Contribution
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Year: 2011
• Number of pages: 19 str.
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-45264
• UDC: 061.1EU
• COBISS.SI-ID: 30576733
• Publication date in RUL: 10.07.2015