Tallberg’s analysis challenges the conventional wisdom that the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU is a mere administrative function. Instead, he demonstrates that the Presidency wields significant agenda-setting powers, manages negotiations, and brokers compromises between member states and EU institutions. The chair’s ability to set priorities, coordinate national policies, and represent the Council externally gives it a privileged position to influence legislative outcomes and focus attention on issues of national or regional interest. Tallberg’s rationalist theory of formal leadership is supported by detailed case studies, showing how Presidencies can exploit their access to information and procedural control to advance both EU-wide goals and, at times, their own national interests.

The book also explores the changing landscape of EU leadership following the Lisbon Treaty, which introduced permanent leadership roles but left the rotating Presidency with substantial responsibilities in managing the Council’s work, especially in legislative negotiations and inter-institutional dialogue. Tallberg extends his analysis beyond the EU, arguing that the power of the chair is a general phenomenon in international politics, shaping negotiations on trade, security, and the environment. He shows that while the Presidency is expected to act as an “honest broker,” it often balances this impartiality with subtle efforts to promote its own agenda—sometimes successfully, sometimes constrained by the need for consensus and limited time in office