<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><italic>This article addresses the Council presidency trio mechanism codified in the Lisbon Treaty with a particular focus on the continuity question in the Council's decision-making framework. The aim of the article is to explore the effect of the formalised trio programme on continuity in the Council's decision-making process. To this end, the article looks at how the trio mechanism has evolved over time and how it functions in practice</italic>.</p><p><italic>While some analysts have been sceptical about the usefulness of the trio programme, these findings demonstrate that the launch of this institutional tool has improved the continuity in the Council's decision-making process. The positive effect on continuity results from three main factors-the trio programme as a formal tool in the Council's institutional tool-kit; the existence of political will among the presidencies to cooperate; and, lastly, the guiding role of the Council Secretariat. The article presents evidence gathered by tracing the preparations of joint trio programmes from 2007 to 2012.</italic></p></abstract>

This article addresses the Council presidency trio mechanism codified in the Lisbon Treaty with a particular focus on the continuity question in the Council's decision-making framework. The aim of the article is to explore the effect of the formalised trio programme on continuity in the Council's decision-making process. To this end, the article looks at how the trio mechanism has evolved over time and how it functions in practice.While some analysts have been sceptical about the usefulness of the trio programme, these findings demonstrate that the launch of this institutional tool has improved the continuity in the Council's decision-making process. The positive effect on continuity results from three main factors-the trio programme as a formal tool in the Council's institutional tool-kit; the existence of political will among the presidencies to cooperate; and, lastly, the guiding role of the Council Secretariat. The article presents evidence gathered by tracing the preparations of joint trio programmes from 2007 to 2012.

The ‘Trio Presidency’ of the Council of the European Union: Towards More Continuity?

The Permanent Representation of Estonia to the EU

TalTech Journal of European Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

This article addresses the Council presidency trio mechanism codified in the Lisbon Treaty with a particular focus on the continuity question in the Council's...

The ‘Trio Presidency’ of the Council of the European Union: Towards More Continuity?

Published Online: Feb 01, 2015

Page range: 19 - 35

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bjes-2015-0003

Keywords
continuity, Council of the EU, decision-making process, rotating presidency, trio mechanism, trio programme

© 2015 Ele Raik

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The ‘Trio Presidency’ of the Council of the European Union: Towards More Continuity?

Published Online: Feb 01, 2015

Page range: 19 - 35

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bjes-2015-0003

Keywordscontinuity, Council of the EU, decision-making process, rotating presidency, trio mechanism, trio programme

© 2015 Ele Raik

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
continuity, Council of the EU, decision-making process, rotating presidency, trio mechanism, trio programme