THE DANISH EU PRESIDENCY: CAN A SMALL NON-EURO MEMBER STATE BE EFFECTIVE IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC CRISIS?

• Authors: Mette Buskjær Christensen , Julie Nielsen Hassing
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The seventh Danish EU Presidency of 2012 was inevitably oriented towards the imminent economic challenges faced by the EU. Although the Eurozone crisis remained the most urgent issue facing the EU, the Danish Presidency, maintained its focus on other important policy areas as well. The four key words of the Danish EU presidency, reflecting its priorities, were to make the EU more (1) Responsible (2) Dynamic (3) Green and (4) Safe. In this article we discuss to what extent and in what ways the Danish Presidency fulfilled its ambitions concerning these four focal points. In order to evaluate and understand the performance of the Presidency, we discuss the new role of the Council Presidency introduced by the Lisbon Treaty (2009), the implications of the specific domestic context of Danish politics, and the sta¬tus of Denmark as a ’small and reluctant Member State’. We postulate that the Danish Presidency of 2012 was particularly successful in performing the role as mediator in important inter-institutional negotiations. Yet in terms of shaping the EU political agenda, the achievements were less significant.

Keywords

EN

EU PRESIDENCY; DENMARK; ECONOMIC CRISIS; EURO; TREATY OF LISBON

• Publisher: Centre for Europe, University of Warsaw
• Journal: Yearbook of Polish European Studies
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 15
• Pages: 83-106

Contributors

author

Mette Buskjær Christensen

author

Julie Nielsen Hassing