CLEER Presidency Lecture: The Bulgarian Presidency’s experience of the EU Council in the external relations field

With the Lisbon Treaty entering into force, the EU’s conduct of international affairs has been reinforced by the introduction of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European External Action Service.

Nevertheless, the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU still offers coordinating and representation opportunities for the incumbent Member State, the possibility to create ‘ownership’ of EU-related issues at home, gain political influence by leadership, and create a positive image to the outside world. The CLEER Presidency lecture series looks at the presidency terms in retrospect, in order to assess how the Member State fulfilled these aspirations and what its actions mean for the European Union’s international relations.

T.M.C. Asser Instituut and CLEER, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, cordially invite you to this Presidency Lecture by:

H.E. Mr Rumen Alexandrov Ambassador of Republic of Bulgaria in the Netherlands
Respondent speaker: Dr. Joris Larik Assistant Professor of Comparative, EU and International Law at the University of Leiden and Member of the Advisory Board of CLEER.

Since 2011, the Centre for the Law of the EU External Relations (CLEER) and T.M.C Asser Institute have been organising a dedicated lecture series to complement CLEER’s events. The lecture series provide a focus on a peculiar element of EU external relations: the role of the incumbent presidencies in coordination and leadership in regional and global issues.

This event is followed by a reception.