Presidency in the European Union - roles performance in the post-Lisbon era

The main goal of the project is to investigate the roles (and associated functions) performed by the European Union`s (EU) Presidencies in the new, Lisbon Treaty regime. The fundamental novelty of the situation sums up, beyond other aspects, to the change in which the so-far six-months rotating Presidency - at both the European Council (EC) and the European Union Council (EUC) level - was replaced by a hybrid system combining a rotating component at the EU Council level with the establishment of a semi-pe rmanent (two and a half years with an option for one more cadency) President for the European Council. Additionally the Presidency lost its roles in the field of foreign policy which became the prerogatives of the strengthened High Representative for Fore ign and Security Policy. Consequently, the research problem will deal with the interplay between President of the European Council and the EU Council Presidency (discontinuity / compatibility problem) ? how it affects the distribution of traditional Pres idency`s roles and functions in the new legal set-up. The operationalisation of the EU Presidencies performance (roles and functions: leader, organizer administrative manager, mediator, broker, national representative or representative to the third partie s and other community institutions) will be combined with the internal (intra-member state) and international determinants of Presidencies functioning. These empirical observations will allow to verify the explanatory potential of the so-far research mod els utility in the new circumstances, addressing the inquiry - what combination of contemporary theoretical vehicles is going to be adequate when researching the post-Lisbon Presidencies. Analyzing the EU Council and in particular its Presidency in terms of role conception is legitimate from the point of view of the treaty change and consequent new institutional settings.