Representing Europe or National Priorities? Variation among Nordic Presidencies of the Council of the EU in Amplifying or Silencing National Environmental Policy

This thesis examines how three Nordic Presidencies of the Council of the EU vary between promoting national environmental priorities and downplaying them in accordance with the Presidency’s formal norm of impartiality. Although the Presidency of the Council was institutionalised to facilitate consensus and coordination among EU member states, the office also appears to provide national governments with opportunities to shape the Council’s agenda in line with their own priorities. Nevertheless, the extent to which Presidencies of the Council make use of these opportunities varies. Some member states tend to “silence” national priorities in favour of the common European good and the norm of impartiality, whereas others strive to “amplify” them through active promotion during their Presidency term. This trade-off is particularly relevant for the three Nordic member states, as small member states often rely on institutional roles such as the Presidency of the Council to gain influence in EU decision-making. By focusing on environmental policy, an issue area in which Nordic states have sought to exercise international leadership, this thesis adopts a qualitative comparative case study design and analyses three Nordic Council Presidencies: the Swedish Presidency in 2001, the Danish Presidency in 2012, and the Finnish Presidency in 2019. The findings suggest that Nordic EU member states do vary in the extent to which they act as amplifiers or silencers of national environmental priorities during their Presidency terms. The Swedish Presidency gravitated most clearly towards the amplifier approach, the Finnish Presidency reflected a more restrained form of amplification, while the Danish Presidency came closest to the silencer approach. This variation appears to be shaped by factors such as institutional context, issue contestation, and vetoes.

Author dc:creator

• Indíana Dögg Einarsdóttir 2004-

Contributors dc:contributor

• Háskóli Íslands

• Stjórnmálafræði
• Norðurlönd

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1946/52806

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:skemman.is:1946/52806