The Lisbon Treaty introduced major reforms regarding, inter alia, the external representation of the European Union. As a consequence, the role of the rotating Council presidency has been downgraded, making way for the central EU bureaucracy to represent the EU in the international arena. Yet, as far as its parliamentary dimension is concerned, there appears to be an important post-Lisbon paradox: the role of the rotating presidency is enhanced. This is due, in part to the increased role of national parliaments and of the European Parliament post-Lisbon, and in part, to the role that each parliament of the country holding the Presidency decides to adopt. On that respect, during the Greek EU Council presidency, the Greek Parliament undertook an active role making use of the powers conferred to it by the treaties. The current analysis focuses on the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on CFSP/CSDP during the Greek presidency.

Working Paper 66/2015: The parliamentary dimension of EU external affairs during the 2014 Greek Presidency

Authors: Dr Stelios Stavridis and Dr Maria Gianniou