The ongoing crisis in the Eurozone has posed particular challenges to the current Polish EU Presidency. Poland, like Sweden, is not a member of the Euro Group and has therefore been excluded from some of the most important decision-making during the second half of 2011.

The Hungarian presidency has faced a series of truly challenging economic and political problems. These include the responses to the economic and financial crises and the uprisings in the Arab world.

Despite the financial crisis and the subsequent euro crisis, the Swedish public opinion is increasingly in favour of the EU. In the 2010 survey, 53 percent are in favour of the Swedish membership while 23 percent are against.

The Swedish courts are now in a legal system covering the whole of Europe and their practices. In the case of a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice, this is central to the EU's impact in Sweden.

The current Spanish EU Presidency has faced a number of tough challenges. These include reaching an agreement on an EU strategy for employment and growth (EU 2020), managing the acute financial crisis in Greece and the EU response to the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, argues the author of this mid-term review of the achievements of the Spanish Presidency.

The Belgian EU Presidency has faced a number of tough challenges. These include reaching an agreement on the new initiatives about the EU:s economic decision-making system as well as handling the continuous economic crisis.

Swedish public opinion on EU Affairs has undergone considerable changes since 1995 and Swedes are gradually becoming more positive to membership. According to the latest survey there is, for the first time since 1995, a majority of Swedes are in favour of membership in the European Union.

National courts are Community courts and as such they should do everything needed to make sure that the preliminary rulings procedure functions as efficiently as possible. The effectiveness of this system is obviously based on a healthy dialogue (discourse) between the two main protagonists: the Court of Justice and the national court.

In order to better understand the Swedish Presidency of the European Union, SIEPS invited a number of experts on the European Union from different member states. They were asked to write short analytical texts on how the Presidency has succeeded in relation to expectations and ambitions.

The Czech Presidency of 2009 inherited a fully charged agenda after France. Three severe external crises confronted the Czech government as it took over at the helm of the EU: the gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia; renewed hostilities in the Gaza Strip; and the deepest global economic crisis since the Great Depression.