Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T03:00:55.675Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Voting Behavior in the Council of the European Union: The Effect of the Trio Presidency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2017

Philippe van Gruisen ,
Pieterjan Vangerven  and
Christophe Crombez
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper examines the Trio Presidency and its impact on voting behavior in the Council of the European Union. Trios of Member States cooperate for 18-month periods, with each member holding the Presidency for six months. We study whether belonging to the Trio increases the probability that a Member State votes in favor of a measure. We analyze roll call votes on 1038 legislative acts from January 2007 till June 2014. Conducting probit analyses we present evidence that Member States are indeed more likely to vote in favor during their participation in Trios. We show that this results mainly from the Trio’s agenda-setting powers. Moreover, holding the Presidency itself does not further increase the probability of voting in favor.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Political Science Research and Methods , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , July 2019 , pp. 489 - 504
Copyright
© The European Political Science Association 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Philippe van Gruisen is a Doctoral Candidate at the Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven ([email protected]). Pieterjan Vangerven is a Research Fellow at KU Leuven and FWO-Vlaanderen, Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven ([email protected]). Christophe Crombez is Professor of Political Economy at KU Leuven, Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven and a Senior Research Scholar at Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, 616 Serra street, Stanford, CA 94305. ([email protected]). C.C. gratefully acknowledges support from the Research Foundation—Flanders (Project G054414N) and the Special Research Fund—KU Leuven (Project 13/020).

References

Allerkamp, Doreen. 2014. ‘The Presidency Effect’. Paper presented at the 45th UACES Conference, Cork, 1–3 September.Google Scholar
Aksoy, Deniz. 2010. ‘Who Gets What, When and How Revisted: Voting and Proposal Powers in the Allocation of the EU Budget’. European Union Politics 11(2):171–197.Google Scholar
Arregui, Moreno J, and Thomson, Robert. 2009. ‘States’ Bargaining Success in the European Union’. Journal of European Public Policy 16(5):655–676.Google Scholar
Aspinwall, Mark. 2002. ‘Preferring Europe: Ideology and National Preferences on European Integration’. European Union Politics 3(1):81–111.Google Scholar
Batory, Agnes, and Puetter, Uwe. 2013. ‘Consistency and Diversity? The EU’s Rotating Trio Council Presidency After the Lisbon Treaty’. Journal of European Public Policy 20(1):95–112.Google Scholar
Bailer, Stephanie, Mattila, Mikko, and Schneider, Gerald. 2014. ‘Money Makes the EU Go Round: The Objective Foundations of Conflict in the Council of Ministers’. Journal of Common Market Studies 1:1–20.Google Scholar
Crombez, Christophe, and Vangerven, Pieterjan. 2014. ‘Procedural Models of European Union Politics: Contributions and Suggestions for Improvement’. European Union Politics 15(2):289–308.Google Scholar
Cross, James. 2013. ‘Everyone’s a Winner (Almost): Bargaining Success in the Council of Ministers of the European Union’. European Union Politics 14(1):70–94.Google Scholar
Golub, Jonathan. 2012. ‘How the European Union Does Not Work: National Bargaining Success in the Council of Ministers’. Journal of European Public Policy 19(9):1294–1315.Google Scholar
Häge, Frank M. 2011. ‘The European Union Policy-Making Dataset’. European Union Politics 12(3):455–477.Google Scholar
Häge, Frank M. ‘The Scheduling Power of the EU Council Presidency’. Journal of European Public Policy. (forthcoming).Google Scholar
Hagemann, Sara. 2008. ‘Voting, Statements and Coalition-Building in the Council from 1999 to 2006’. In Naurin, D. and Wallace, H. (eds), Unveiling the Council of the European Union: Games Governments play in Brussels. 36–63. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Hagemann, Sara, and De Clerck-Sachsse, Julia. 2007. ‘Old Rules, New Game: Decision-Making in the Council of Ministers After the 2004 Enlargement’. CEPS Special Reports, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels.Google Scholar
Hagemann, Sara, Hobolt, Sara B, and Wratil, Christopher. ‘Government Responsiveness in the European Union: Evidence From Council Voting’. Comparative Political Studies. (forthcoming).Google Scholar
Hayes-Renshaw, Fiona, Van Aken, Wim, and Wallace, Helen. 2006. ‘When and Why the Council of Ministers of the EU Votes Explicitly’. Journal of Common Market Studies 44(1):161–194.Google Scholar
Heisenberg, Dorothee. 2005. ‘The Institution of “Consensus” in the European Union: Formal Versus Informal Decision-Making in the Council’. European Journal of Political Research 44(1):65–90.Google Scholar
Hix, Simon, and Hoyland, Bjorn. 2011. The Political System of the European Union, 3rd ed. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Hosli, Madeleine. 2007. ‘Explaining Voting Behavior in the Council of the European Union’. Paper presented at the 4th ECPR Conference, Pisa, 6--8 September 2007.Google Scholar
Hosli, Madeleine, Mattila, Mikko, and Uriot, Mark. 2011. ‘Voting in the Council of the European Union After the 2004 Enlargement: A comparison of Old and New Member States’. Journal of Common Market Studies 49(6):1249–1270.Google Scholar
Jensen, Mads Dagnis, and Nedergaard, Peter. 2014. ‘Uno, Duo, Trio? Varieties of Trio Presidencies in the Council of Ministers’. Journal of Common Market Studies 52(5):1035–1052.Google Scholar
König, Thomas, and Proksch, Sven-Oliver. 2006. ‘Exchanging and Voting in the Council: Endogenizing the Spatial Model of Legislative Politics’. Journal of European Public Policy 13(5):647–669.Google Scholar
Mattila, Mikko. 2004. ‘Contested Decisions: Empirical Analysis of Voting in the European Union Council of Ministers’. European Journal of Political Research 43(1):29–50.Google Scholar
Mattila, Mikko. 2012. ‘Resolving Controversies With DEU Data’. European Union Politics 13(3):451–461.Google Scholar
Novak, Stéphanie. 2013. ‘The Silence of Ministers: Consensus and Blame Avoidance in the Council of the European Union’. Journal of Common Market Studies 51:1091–1107.Google Scholar
Pajala, Antti, and Widgrèn, Mika. 2004. ‘A Priori Versus Empirical Voting Power in the EU Council of Ministers’. European Union Politics 5(1):73–97.Google Scholar
Quaglia, Lucia, and Moxon-Browne, Edward. 2006. ‘What Makes a Good EU Presidency? Italy and Ireland Compared’. Journal of Common Market Studies 44(2):349–368.Google Scholar
Reh, Christine, Héritier, Adrienne, Bressanelli, Edoardo, and Koop, Christel. 2013. ‘The Informal Politics of Legislation: Explaining Secluded Decision Making in the European Union’. Comparative Political Studies 45:1112–1142.Google Scholar
Schalk, Jelmer, Torenvlied, Rene, Weesie, Jeroen, and Stokman, Frans. 2007. ‘The Power of the Presidency in EU Council Decision-Making’. European Union Politics 8(2):229–250.Google Scholar
Settembri, Pierpaolo. 2005. ‘Transparency and the EU Legislator: Let He Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone’. Journal of Common Market Studies 43(3):637–654.Google Scholar
Sherrington, Philippa. 2000. The Council of Ministers: Political Authority in the European Union. London and New York: Pinter.Google Scholar
Tallberg, Jonas. 2003. ‘The Agenda-Shaping Powers of the EU Council Presidency’. Journal of European Public Policy 10(1):1–19.Google Scholar
Tallberg, Jonas. 2006. Leadership and Negotiation in the European Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tallberg, Jonas. 2010. ‘The Power of the Chair: Formal Leadership in International Cooperation’. International Studies Quarterly 54:241–265.Google Scholar
Thomson, Robert. 2008. ‘The Council Presidency in the European Union: Responsibility With Power’. Journal of Common Market Studies 46(3):593–617.Google Scholar
Thomson, Robert, Boerefijn, Jovanka, and Stokman, Frans. 2004. ‘Actor Alignments in European Union Decision-Making’. European Journal of Political Research 43(2):237–261.Google Scholar
Thomson, Robert, and Hosli, Madeleine. 2006. ‘Who Has the Power in the EU? The Commission, Council and Parliament in Legislative Decision-Making’. Journal of Common Market Studies 44(2):391–417.Google Scholar
Udovic, Bostjan, and Svetlicic, Marjan. 2012. ‘Does the Trio Matter? The Case of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency’. Romanian Journal of Political Sciences 2(1):4–25.Google Scholar
Van Aken, Wim. 2012. ‘Voting in the Council of the European Union: Contested Decision-Making in the Council of Ministers’. Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies,. Stockholm, Sweden. Report 2012/2.Google Scholar
Vieira, Alena V.G., and Lange, Sabina. 2012. ‘Beyond Continuity: Analysis of the Effects of the First Trio Presidency on Policy Coherence for Development’. European Integration Online Papers 16(14):1–29.Google Scholar
Wallace, Helen, and Edwards, Geoffrey. 1976. ‘European Community. The Evolving Role of the Presidency of the Council’. International Affairs 53(4):535–550.Google Scholar
Warntjen, Andreas. 2008. ‘The Council Presidency: Power Broker or Burden? An Empirical Analysis’. European Union Politics 9(3):315–338.Google Scholar
Warntjen, Andreas. 2013a. ‘Overcoming Gridlock: The Council Presidency, Legislative Activity and Issue De-Coupling in the Area of Occupational Health and Safety Regulation’. Journal of Contemporary European Research 9(1):39–59.Google Scholar
Warntjen, Andreas. 2013b. ‘The Elusive Goal of Continuity? Legislative Decision-Making and the Council Presidency Before and After Lisbon’. West European Politics 36(6):1239–1255.Google Scholar
Westlake, Martin, and Galloway, David. 2004. The Council of the European Union, 3rd ed. London: John Harper Publishing.Google Scholar
Zimmer, Christina, Schneider, Gerald, and Dobbins, Michael. 2005. ‘The Contested Council: The Conflict Dimensions of an Intergovernmental Institution’. Political Studies 53(2):403–422.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

van Gruisen supplementary material

Dataset

http://dx.doi.org/10.7910/DVN/UBAPZL
Link