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What Makes a Good EU Presidency? Italy and Ireland Compared *
Author(s) -
QUAGLIA LUCIA,
MOXONBROWNE EDWARD
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
jcms: journal of common market studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.54
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1468-5965
pISSN - 0021-9886
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5965.2006.00626.x
Subject(s) - presidency , credibility , argument (complex analysis) , reputation , political science , benchmark (surveying) , irish , politics , order (exchange) , public relations , public administration , business , law , finance , biochemistry , chemistry , linguistics , philosophy , geodesy , geography
What makes a ‘good’ EU presidency? A comparison between the two most recent Italian and Irish experiences in office can be instrumental in evaluating the crucial factors that affect presidency performance. The argument is developed in three main stages. Firstly, four key roles are selected in order to benchmark presidencies. Secondly, these roles are applied to the empirical record as criteria to devise a score‐card of the two presidencies under consideration. Thirdly, presidency‐specific factors are elicited and analysed, arguing that intangible assets, such as knowledge of EU affairs (process expertise, content expertise and information); political credibility and reputation; and general attitudes towards European integration, are crucial in performing the roles of president‐in‐office effectively and legitimately.