The Council of the European Union is certainly the most powerful institution of the European Union, as a major Community legislator – alone or with the European Parliament – and as an executive body.  Still, there is only limited knowledge of the Council’s decision-making and how the Council reaches an agreement.

At this seminar, Wim Van Aken  will present the report Voting in the Council of the European Union – Contested Decision-Making in the EU Council of Ministers (1995-2010) focusing on Member States’ voting behaviour. The report is based on a robust collection of data stretching over a period from 1995 to 2010, together with qualitative material from interviews with practitioners in the Council Secretariat and the Member States’ permanent representations.

Speaker
Wim Van Aken, Postdoctoral Fellow, Economics Department, HEC-University, Liege, Belgium

Discussants

• Mikko Mattila, Professor of Political Science, Department of Political and Economic Studies, University of Helsinki

• Jan Olsson, Ambassador, Coreper I, Permanent Representation of Sweden to the European Union, Brussels

Moderator
Pernilla Bäckman, Researcher, Political Science, SIEPS

Time: Friday 28 September  13.30-15.30. Registration/coffee from 13.00.
Venue: Kungliga Myntkabinettet, Slottsbacken 6, Stockholm.
Language: English

Please register no later than 24 September.

The seminar is free of charge and open to the public. Each participant will receive a copy of the publication.