Doing the Same With Different Results: Variations in EU Presidencies of Austria, Finland, Slovakia and Czechia, a new article by dr. Kočí a dr. Antal
Mgr. Ing. Kateřina Kočí, PhD, and Mgr. Jarolím Antal, PhD, published an article “Doing the Same With Different Results: Variations in EU Presidencies of Austria, Finland, Slovakia and Czechia” in the prestigious journal JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies. The article focuses on the analysis of the EU Council presidency and examines how this role can be perceived and what factors influence its success. The authors discuss the outcomes of four selected presidencies – Austria, Finland, Slovakia, and Czechia – and demonstrate that the success of a presidency can be apparent and, in reality, its scope and nature vary depending on different factors that affect the preparation and implementation of activities during the presidency.
Abstract:
Holding the presidency in the Council of the EU can be a powerful tool of influence for a member state. Despite its centrality in EU decision-making, there is a gap in a systematic analysis of the performance of the presiding country, especially considering the external (input) factors that impact the successful implementation of the EU presidency. This article attempts to understand how the EU presidency can be conceptualized and what factors can influence its success. The analysis dwells on findings from current scholarly research as well as on data from four selected EU presidencies (Austrian, Finnish, Slovakian and Czech). It argues that the success of a presidency may be interpreted as apparent, but in reality, its extent and nature vary. It (the presidency) is a result of various factors that directly become part of the preparations and affect the execution of the presidency’s activities.
and (2024) ‘Doing the Same With Different Results: Variations in EU Presidencies of Austria, Finland, Slovakia and Czechia’. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13646.
Kateřina Kočí
Dr. Kočí is an assistant professor at the Department of International and Diplomatic Studies. She is currently involved in teaching courses such as Contemporary International Relations, Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability in Modern Society, the EU in the World, and Contemporary World Politics. She teaches in both English and Czech. As a researcher, she focuses on topics related to EU actorness, the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, the Central European region within the EU, and gender in diplomacy. She has recently published in journals such as Conflict and Cooperation, JIRD, Politics and Governance, Journal of Common Market Studies, Politics & Gender, and Journal of Contemporary European Studies. In 2020, she became a member of the research network GenDip and is also a member of ECPR and CEEISA. She has served as a visiting scholar at universities in Warsaw, Ljubljana, and Tartu, and received a study scholarship at the PACTE Research Center at Sciences Po Grenoble in France. She was the main coordinator of the BIP program, funded by the European Commission, implemented at VŠE in 2022. From 2020 to 2023, she was a member of the research team for four TAČR projects focused on the Czech Presidency of the EU Council. Since 2017, she has also been the coordinator of the Sports Diplomacy program, which FMV VŠE collaborates on with the Czech Olympic Committee.
Jarolím Antal
Dr. Antal is an assistant professor at the Department of International Economic Relations and the director of the Center for European Studies at the Faculty of International Relations, VŠE. He teaches Decision-Making Processes in the EU, European Economic Integration, and leads seminars in the course World Economy. He was an IPS scholarship holder, during which he worked for 5 months as an assistant to a member of the German Bundestag (2010). During his doctoral studies, he was a visiting researcher at SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC (2012), and in 2022, he served as a visiting academic at the Center for European Studies, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford. In 2019 and 2020, he was a member of the research team for the TAČR project titled Targeting Investment Support in the Czech Republic with Regard to the Expected Impacts of Technological Changes. From 2020 to 2022, he was a member of the research team for several TAČR projects focused on the Czech Presidency of the EU Council. He is a member of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES). His professional interests include European politics and economics, institutional relations, and the role of stakeholders in the EU.