MKI Perspective – Written by Jad Marcell Harb, Csaba Stefán & Ágnes Vass
The rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union allows each member state to chair Council Meetings and set the agenda of the Council sessions for half a year. While this is a great opportunity for a member state to become the center of EU politics and policymaking, – so much so that there is a saying that a state only becomes a true member once it holds the presidency – it is also a fleeting one: while agenda setting allows for influencing the priorities of the Council, such as, for example, deciding between whether enlargement policy should focus either on the Eastern Partnership or the Western Balkans countries, half a year makes for a hard time limit on what the given member state can achieve.