Managing institutional transformation in the European Union: The changing role of the Council Secretariat

After coming into force in 2009, the Lisbon Treaty required the creation of new institutions and procedures. This article analyses the response by the General Secretariat of the Council on two key innovations which created both opportunities as well as risks in terms of its institutional role: the establishment of full-time, fixed term presidents for the European Council and the Foreign Affairs Council. The paper first examines the GSC’s institutional preferences with regard to its role in supporting these new two players and successively identifies strategies and resources that were used. It argues that in both cases the GSC was successful in realizing its preferences even though in the case of the HR/VP, this was more challenging.