Analysis
Politics
European Commission Report Highlights Ukraine’s Gains in Governance, Reform and Resilience
7 November 2024
28 October 2020
Germany must engage in a debate on the next generation of the EU’s role as both a builder, a gardener and a night watchman. If not, national particularisms threaten to implode the Union internally.
In answering this question, I would like to remind you why the presidency of the Council of the EU plays a key role in the system of European integration today. It is a unique institution that combines two methods of integration important for the country exercising it: intergovernmental and community (supranational).
The EU presidency is part of the decision-making process both in a member state and in the European Union. However, it is not a technocratic and apolitical formula for exercising power. Like other EU mechanisms and procedures, it is subject to a process of politicisation and democratisation.
On the one hand, the presidency is used in a member state as an element of an internal political game, and on the other hand, it becomes very important in ‘playing’ national preferences and ‘settling’ between representatives of the governments of the member states.