Under the Hold of the EU Presidency: Diplomats’ Structural Moves, Reconstruction of Interests, and Strategies

Although access to the EU presidency is usually seen as an opportunity for Member States to put forward their own agenda, we cannot understand the effects of the EU presidency within such a state-centric, homogenizing approach, which naturalizes a state’s interests. The resources offered by this status as well as the constraints it imposes change the relative position of Member State representatives as well as their options, expectations, and strategies. The impact of this structural move is not the same for all representatives of a single Member State (here, France in 2008). The varying degrees of investment in the role of the presidency depends primarily on the balance of power and the dynamics and institutions in each field of EU public policy.