A President for the European Union: A New Actor in Town?* SPYROS BLAVOUKOS University of Essex DIMITRIS BOURANTONIS Athens University of Economics and Business GEORGE PAGOULATOS Athens University of Economics and Business Abstract In the post-Constitution EU, the rotating Presidency would be replaced by a hybrid system combining a rotating component with the establishment of a permanent President for the European Council. Using a principal-agent framework, we look at the supply and demand for formal leadership in the new system, accounting for the substantial institutional change in the format of the Presidency. We then examine the President’s effectiveness and efficiency and discuss whether the President, as a new institutional actor, has the potential to evolve into an autonomous political actor in the EU. Our analysis suggests a discernible though by no means unconditional strength- ening of the President’s potential for an autonomous political role in the new EU institutional architecture. Introduction One of the major institutional reforms contained in the Constitutional Treaty of the European Union (henceforth: Constitution) concerned the EU Presi- dency system. This particular item will probably be among those salvaged * In various stages the article has benefited from the comments of Michael H. Smith, Lars Hoffman, Amy Verdun and especially those of the anonymous referees. The usual disclaimer applies. JCMS 2007 Volume 45. Number 2. pp. 231–252 © 2007 The Author(s) Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA