Presidential power(s)

Franz C Mayer

Chapter 21 in Research Handbook on European Constitutional Law, 2026, pp 374-396 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter explores the prospects of interpreting the European Union as a presidential democracy or presidential regime, where the European Council acts as the Collective President of the EU. The European Council is a central political actor that has no direct parliamentary accountability. It cannot be voted out of office or deposed and yet occupies a central position of power in the institutional structure. Its European legitimacy is neither derived from nor dependent on other actors at the EU level, especially it is not derived from the Parliament that exists at the Union level. There are obvious parallels with the French President according to the 1958 constitution of the Fifth French Republic. Some of the more obvious objections to this interpretation are addressed at the end of the chapter.

Keywords: European Council; Collective President of the EU; Presidency of the EU; Power centre of the EU; Heads of State or Government of the Member States; Institutional setting of the EU (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781802207866
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