(How) do norms guide Presidency behaviour in EU negotiations?

Abstract: This paper takes stock of the growing body of research on the European Union (EU) Presidency, a vital player in EU negotiations. The paper also suggests new avenues of research, among which we prioritize one issue cluster: we ask under what conditions and in what way (following which social logic) norms guide Presidency behaviour?

The focus is directed towards the impartiality norm as that norm most strongly influences whether, and to what extent, Presidencies act as a 'broker', one of the Presidency functions that has received most attention in the literature.

The authors suggest a number of pointers concerning methodology and operationalization of the above question for empirical research. The paper concludes with some brief thoughts on the implications of our proposed approach to Presidency norms for bridge-building between rationalist and sociological accounts.