‘Integration without transparency’? Reliance on the space to think in the European Council and Council

Abstract:

To justify the limited publicity of their sessions, members of the European Council and Council regularly argue that they require a ‘space to think’. This article analyses the relative success of the plea for this ‘space to think’ in both legislative (Council) and non-legislative (European Council and Council) modes of decision-making. We consider the concept of the ‘space to think’ as well as the manner in which it is integrated into the theories of new intergovernmentalism and intergovernmental union. We then analyse how the European Council and Council have developed the ‘space to think’ in their daily practices. We find that, while the limited progress of transparency lends partial support to the new intergovernmentalism and intergovernmental union, the drivers underpinning the ‘space to think’ are not limited to non-legislative decision-making but are also increasingly found in the legislative procedure.