Small States and EU Governance / St Antony's Series (PDF)

SIMONE BUNSE is Assistant Professor at the INCAE Business School, Costa Rica. She holds a DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford, UK and is a former visiting researcher at the Free University of Brussels. Her work focuses on institutions and leadership in the EU. She has published on the 2003 Greek Council Presidency and co-published with Paul Magnette and Kalypso NicolaIdis on Power Politics in the Convention in Leadership in the Big Bangs of European Integration.

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'The Council of Ministers is the least known institution of the European Union among the public. Although it consists of the representatives of the governments of the Member States and thus by definition ought to be in close contact with the European citizens, the doings and makings of the Council fall in the shadow of the European Commission and the European Parliament. A gradual opening of the decision making process of the Council to the public has improved the situation to some extent. Dr Bunse has written an outstanding book on the proceedings of the Council. Her deep understanding of how the Presidency works, on what can be achieved in a short period of six months, on the premises of setting the agenda and translating it into concrete results, and on the interplay between the Council of Ministers, the European Commission and the European Parliament is a fascinating read and gives a rare insight for the reader. This book is recommended to scholars, practitioners and anyone who has an active interest in the European integration process.'

- Jan Store, Permanent Representative of Finland to the European Union and Deputy Permanent Representative at the time of the first Finnish Presidency in 1999

'An excellent book on an important subject. Dr Bunse provides intellectual rigour and much scope for reflection on an institution whose role is frequently misunderstood by scholars and practitioners alike. In addressing the role of the rotating Presidency, and providing a useful critique of schemes to replace it with something more permanent, she provides food for thought for those involved in any future revision of the EU treaties. More broadly, in explaining the role of the Presidency in Institutionalist terms as an instance of intergovernmental entrepreneurship, she also challenges much of the extant literature which argues, or assumes, that it is supranationalism alone which renders integration