From Summitry to EU Government: An Agenda Formation Perspective on the European Council

Marcello Carammia*, Sebastiaan Princen, Arco Timmermans

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

While some observers have claimed that the European Council has become the key institution in European Union politics, others have argued that the Council's role has remained relatively stable over time. In this article, we argue that an analysis of agenda formation dynamics in the European Council may help us understand better how the European Council works and how its role has evolved over time. Building on theories of agenda-setting, we identify two ideal-typical modes of agenda formation: selective targeting and routine monitoring. Based on a comprehensive dataset of coded European Council Conclusions in the period 1975-2011, we show that the substantive content of the European Council agenda shows little change over time. However, in terms of agenda formation dynamics, we find a marked shift toward routine monitoring of issues. This supports the claim that the European Council is developing into the EU's de facto government.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)809-825
JournalJournal of Common Market Studies
Volume54
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • Agenda-setting
  • European Council
  • European Union
  • Intergovernmentalism
  • Issue processing

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