This website fills a gap about systematic empirical data and cumulative research related to EU Council activities, from minutes and voting records to studies and analysis authored by scholars and experts. Set up and professionally managed by the Centre for European Research at Göteborg University (CERGU), in Sweden, this site is an attempt to break the somewhat closed nature of the Council and includes several extensive papers about specific topics, such as Voting in the Council from 1994 to 2006, Government Preferences on EU and the impact of EU enlargement on Council decision-making. For further research data, a direct link to the European Legislative Politics Research Group website with more content addressing the EU legislative politics. Despite its quite focused scope, the site provides great material and ideas for larger systematic analysis, while also its direct linkage with the official EU Council website enables the public to access a variety of updated news, voting records, press releases and much more. The site basic structure is functional to its goal of providing easy access to user with any expertise level, with just a few graphical navigational tips and lacking regular updates. Articles can be downloaded in different formats, Excel, SPSS format, STATA, CSV.
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