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SMALL STATES IN EU DECISION-MAKING:
PORTUGAL IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

A project of the Robert Schuman Centre, European U. Institute, Florence funded by the Fundaçao Francisco Manuel dos Santos, Lisbon

Although every European Union member state is equal in law, they are unequal in resources: more than three-quarters are small countries in terms of population. The median EU state has less than two per cent of the EU's population. Since the co-decision processes of the EU usually operate by consensus, small states have a right to be consulted. However, to influence policies small countries need to be informed and realistic in what they say. A grant of €250,000 from the Fundaçao Francisco Manuel dos Santos, Lisbon, has supported a programme of research that is systematically examining the role of representatives of small countries in the European Union policy processes. It is co-directed by Professor Richard Rose and Professor Alexander Trechsel and the Foundation has appointed a distinguished advisory committee from the Portuguese public policy community.

The research involves a combination of fieldwork in Lisbon and Brussels, supplemented by interviews in Vienna, Dublin and London. Reports are published in both English and Portuguese and discussed in public events in Lisbon, Brussels and London.

Publications in English include:

SPP 500. How Size Matters: Portugal as an EU Member. Rose & Trechsel.

Small States in the European Union, Austrian Embassy, London.

SPP 514. The European Political Capital of Portuguese. Rose & Trechsel.

Portugal’s Participation in EU Decision-Making, Brussels.

Six reports have been published in Portuguese in a single volume, Portugal nas Decisiões Europeias.

 


CSPP School of Government & Public Policy U. of Strathclyde Glasgow G1 1XQ Scotland
Email: cspp@strath.ac.uk