Search

The agenda-setting power of the rotating Council presidency presented successive Portuguese governments with an opportunity to externalize the country's core foreign-policy priorities onto the European level. As such, Portugal's presidencies of the Council of the European Union have been particularly instrumental in formalizing relations between the EU and the Lusophone world. The first and second EU-Africa summits, the first EU-Brazil summit, the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Commission and the Executive Secretariat of the Community of Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP), and the closer association of Cape Verde to the EU, all occurred while Portugal held the rotating Council presidency. This article discusses the strategies, challenges and successes of the three Portuguese presidencies (1992, 2000 and 2007) in shaping the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It also explores the options available to Portugal in the post-Lisbon era, where the rotating Council presidency's agenda-setting powers are considerably reduced with regard to CFSP matters. Both prior to and since the Treaty of Lisbon coming into force, Portugal's strategy has been to stress its historic links to Africa and Brazil, as these relations constitute Portugal's contribution to building the CFSP, furthering its core national foreign-policy priorities by putting its position in the Lusophone world at the disposal of the European Union's external action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introductory article sets out the European Union context of the special issue. Its main purpose is to present an overview of the changing role of the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. After a brief introduction, the first section discusses the theoretical approach applied in the study of rotating EU Council Presidencies ? primarily, historical, rational and sociological institutionalism. All these aspects are inherent in the relatively informal structure within the Council of Ministers. Subsequently, an abbreviated account of the evolution of the rotating presidency is provided. This is followed by a section analysing the main functions of the presidency and how the Iberian presidencies have used these functions. The template employed is relatively simple; later articles in the special issue may use it to the degree it is relevant to their focus. It has been argued that until the Lisbon Treaty came into force in 2009, the rotating presidency could be used to enhance a country?s global image, mainly through the external representation role assigned to the institution. The Portuguese presidency of 2007 was probably the last such presidency. As a consequence of the reforms undertaken throughout the new millennium intended to help the EU adjust to enlargement, the presidency has lost visibility. The Spanish presidency of 2010 can been identified as the first in which perceptions of the old and new rotating presidency roles conflicted with each other, leading to failure in many areas. The article finishes by describing the principal aims of the special issue and summarizing the individual contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]