Publication

A significant limitation of the rotating presidency's powers within the area of the EU's external activities, arising from the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon, entails the need to develop a new formula of cooperation between the country holding the presidency of the EU Council and EU policy-makers responsible for implementing the EU's foreign policy. The experience of the Belgian as well as Hungarian presidencies shows that a model for a "supporting presidency," which is being shaped, is likely to prevail as the most optimal in this type of inter-institutional relation.