https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928718807404 Journal of European Social Policy 1–14 © The Author(s) 2018 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0958928718807404 journals.sagepub.com/home/esp Journal Of European Social Policy Introduction The presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) has rotated among the member states in 6-month terms since the 1950s. 1 This curious and unusual arrangement has been subject to considera- ble criticism but it has also been actively defended by many member states (Crum, 2009; Kollman, 2003; Tallberg, 2003). A principal concern is that the rotating presidency due to diverse national priorities and interests may hinder the necessary policy con- sistency and continuity that is required to tackle pressing challenges in an increasingly complex union (Batory and Puetter, 2013). Therefore, a new rotation system based on three member states col- laborating during 18-month intervals was introduced in 2007 to complement the individual national presi- dencies (Council of the European Union, 2006b). The overriding purpose of this article is to examine to what extent the new trio presidency model has Promoting policy consistency and continuity in the EU through the trio: Alcohol-related harm on the council presidency agenda Trygve Ugland Bishop’s University, Canada; Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway Abstract To what extent has the new trio group presidency model that was implemented in 2007 contributed to improved policy consistency and continuity in the European Union (EU)? This article addresses this question by comparing the role alcohol, as a health and social policy issue, has played on the agenda of individual national and trio Council presidencies since the EU Alcohol Strategy was adopted in 2006. Based on systematic analyses of 21 national and 7 trio Council presidency work programmes in the period between 2007 and 2017, the article concludes that the new trio presidency model has led to improved policy consistency and continuity through its promotion of the wider EU agenda, thus contributing to strengthen the image of the Council as a ‘club’. The close relationship between the European Commission and the trio presidencies in the preparation of the joint trio work programmes is here a key factor. Keywords Agenda-setting, alcohol-related harm, Council presidency, European Union, national and trio work programmes, policy consistency and continuity Corresponding author: Trygve Ugland, Department of Politics and International Studies, Bishop’s University, 2600 College Street, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 1Z7, Canada. Email: tugland@ubishops.ca 807404ESP 0 0 10.1177/0958928718807404Journal of European Social PolicyUgland research-article 2018 Article