Book review : Malta’s EU presidency : a study in a small state presidency of the Council of the EU

Abstract

Malta took the helm of the European Union (EU) at a time when Europe was buckling under the weight of a refugee crisis, experiencing a slow economic recovery in the face of austerity, facing rising populism, witnessing a weakening of the transatlantic alliance, and nervously attesting political fragmentation. These combined factors have placed significant pressure on the structures of the EU; and policymakers in the West may be finding themselves unable to cope with unfolding events. Yet, the overarching message of the book is that, despite the intrinsic limitations of being a small state, Malta “managed the Presidency with robustness, meeting many of its targets, brokering compromise amongst the member states and in negotiations with the European Parliament, as well as utilising its limited human and financial resources to their maximum capacity” (p. 6).