№246. The General Affairs Council
№246. The General Affairs Council
The Key to Political Influence of Rotating Presidencies
Author(s): Andrew Byrne, Piotr Maciej Kaczyński
Subject(s): Governance, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment
Published by: CEPS Centre for European Policy Studies
Keywords: Political Influence of Rotating Presidencies; The General Affairs Council (GAC);
Summary/Abstract: In spite of the formal role laid out for the General Affairs Council (GAC) in the Treaties, it has been weakened since it was extracted from the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) and set up to function on its own. Its current uneven composition is leading to further marginalisation. Reforming the GAC can bring it to the centre of gravity of the Council proceedings and address a number of problems in the current institutional structure. For that to happen, however, countries holding the rotating Council presidency need to consider placing their head of state or government in the chair of the GAC meetings.
Series: CEPS Policy Briefs
- Page Count: 7
- Publication Year: 2011
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF
