The Third Spanish Presidency of the EU in Comparative Perspective

The document compares the three Presidencies so far held by Spain with the aim of assessing the factors that may condition the Presidential performance of a Member State. Comparison permits the identification of continuities and change in political attitudes, priorities and the underlying conception of the process of European integration.

Since Spain has held the Presidency of the EU on only two other occasions (1989 and 1995), a detailed analysis of these tenures is possible, although this circumstance reduces the depth of the cases considered, which may prevent us from reaching any definitive conclusions.