Chefsache. Inside the machine room of the European Council.

Dr Sandrino Smeets is an Associate Professor at Radboud University, Nijmegen. He is a teacher and researcher who specializes in EU decision making, with a focus on negotiations on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), foreign policy and enlargement.

In this lecture we will explore how the European Council (EUCO) has been dealing with the EU’s Covid and Energy crises. We look beyond the Heads and their Summits, at the broader system of European Council centered governance – or EUCO system. We meet the main actors and their activities, and explore the nuts and bolts of EUCO governance. We will use the case of the Covid Recovery Fund to further explore the dynamics behind the scenes. We use game theory to determine effective strategies for steering and influencing EUCO proceedings. We use this to look at the EUCO’s handling of the ongoing EU Energy crisis.