Thursday, June 27, 2013
2.21 (Binnengasthuis)
The linking of issues in politics is a regular aspect of policy making, which occurs in different institutions, especially those which are able to decide upon a wide spectrum of policy themes. The European Council, the top informal agenda-setting body of the EU, is a supreme example thereof. It has often been the initiator of integration in new policy domains following the spill-over effect but also experienced furious struggles between diverging national interests, which have been appeased by package deals. By looking at a particular case of issue linkage evolution on the European Council agenda, this paper aims to shed more light on the dynamics behind cohabiting. Are issues experiencing different stages of a linkage relationship: from a loose co-reference towards a strong bond? What are the driving forces behind the process: single member states, groupings of countries, jurisdictional boundaries, or external forces? What is the motivation for joining policy issues under one subject instead of tackling them separately? Does the nature of the issues play a role?
