Agenda-taking rather than agenda-setting: The new member states in the convention on the EU constitution [Agenda-Taking statt Agenda-Setting: Die Neuen im Verfassungskonvent]

Abstract

The convention on the future of the EU was a novelty. Its members were free to act as they saw fit, and the procedures were more transparent, democratic, and rational than at the meetings of heads of government. The states that have acceded in May 2004 participated in the convention. They were not isolated from the then 15 EU members, and did not form coalitions. Coalitions made up of different countries were formed from within the European Parliament, and parliamentarians from the members-in-waiting joined these initiatives. Only at the end of the convention process did government representatives form coalitions with representatives of the smaller states among the EU 15. Interest coalitions on central questions of power in the EU became clearly visible at the Brussels summit in December 2003. For the new members, the convention came too early for them to be able to identify shared interests and to act jointly. Coalitions are determined by policy fields, not on the basis of geography or the date of accession.