In essence, the bet for the Greek presidency is to
raise the political issue of the EU and re-politicize
a debate that, in the past few years, is being con-
ducted in purely technocratic terms.
The motto of the presidency, which will be adapted
to its individual thematic priorities, seeks to bring
back to the forefront the fundamental principles and
values of the European venture: solidarity, the reci-
procity of rights and duties, the equitable sharing of
burdens, democracy, the institutional equity of
member states, respecting different opinions; in a
nutshell, Europe’s need to re-discover its character
as a community of peace, democracy, synthesis
and solidarity. This is not independent from the ris-
ing wave of Euroscepticism and xenophobic ideolo-
gies that threat the European
acquis
.
It should be reminded that the first Greek presi-
Trade with Greece
51
dency came shortly after Greece’s accession to
the Union, while the second culminated with the
positive impression left by the Rhodes Summit.
The third was identified with a major wave of EU
enlargement, which was crucial for Greece, since
this was when the process of Cyprus’ entry in the
Union began, with the Corfu Summit, which saw
the first Summit Meeting between the EU and the
Republic of Cyprus. The fourth Greek presidency
was that of 2003, which reached its peak with the
Thessaloniki-Halkidiki Summit and the approval
of the European Constitution, which was not rati-
fied, thus leading to the transitional Treaty of
Lisbon.
After all, within the new institutional framework
established by the Treaty, the rotating six-month
Presidency of the Council of the EU has a limited
scope and limited room for initiative, as compared
to the past. Until the Lisbon treaty, the presiding
country had a broad role to play in regard to major
issues, such as foreign policy and enlargement
policy. Today, the Presidency of the Council is lim-
ited by the permanent presidencies. The perma-
nent president of the European Council deter-
mines to a great extent the agenda and presides
over the Council that convenes in Brussels and
not in the presiding country. The High
Representative of the EU, Lady Catherine
Ashton, is president of the Foreign Affairs Council
and coordinates the external action of the Union,
while the permanent presidency of the Eurogroup
determines, do a great extent, discussions within
the euro zone.
What is left for the rotating presidency? It pre-
sides over the General Affairs Council, therefore
it is generally responsible for all matters not
introduced to the individual special Council con-
figurations. It also presides over other important
configurations, such as the ECOFIN and the
Justice and Home Affairs Council. The fifth
Greek presidency has one more peculiarity: in
essence, its duration its limited in parliamentary
terms, since this is a pre-election semester and,
therefore, the proceedings of the European
Parliament will be wound up in April. Although the
time is limited, it does offer an opportunity, since
this is the time when the debate on the current
state and the future of Europe will be held.
Thus, the Greek presidency will try to send a triple
message: that it concerns all European citizens,
that it promotes the idea of Europe, that it brings
forward the image of a changing Greece. In this
context, the target of the presidency’s priorities is
to highlight the usefulness and importance of the
Union as the best framework for collectively deal-
