Who sets the agenda? The influence of the European Commission and the European Council in shaping the EU’s response to the European sovereign debt crisis

David Moloney

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess whether the European Commission or the European Council shaped the European Union’s response to the sovereign debt crisis through their respective agenda-setting powers. The paper uses process tracing complemented with interviews to demonstrate the influence of the European Commission and the European Council in this regard. Theoretically, the paper is anchored by a framework of agenda-setting dynamics which is used to assess the European Commission and European Council’s influence in reforming the European Union’s economic governance framework. A systematic analysis of the negotiations of these reforms between 2010 and 2013 indicate that the European Council wielded policy influence through its agenda-setting powers. Conversely, the European Commission exercised less influence in those negotiations, despite its position as the European Union’s de facto agenda-setter.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)112-124
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Contemporary European Studies
Volume29
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • European Commission
  • European Council
  • European sovereign debt crisis
  • European Union economic governance reforms
  • formal and informal agenda-setting

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