Unpacking the influence of the council presidency on European Union external policies: the Polish council presidency and the eastern partnership

The special position of the rotating Council Presidency has raised a long-standing debate on the extent to which this function allows a Member State to exert additional influence on European Union decision-making, in particular in external policy. This article argues that a broader and more differentiated study of Presidency influence could further this debate. In doing so, the article analyses the Polish Council Presidency (during the second half of 2011) and its influence on the European Union's Eastern Partnership policies across three dimensions: (i) differences between influence on the agenda and influence on the contents of decisions, (ii) the forums (different levels in the Council and international forums) where the Presidency can exert influence, and (iii) different types of external policies, an area that has received relatively little scholarly attention thus far in the literature on the Presidency. The analysis shows that (i) the Presidency can determine the agenda to a certain extent, but the position of the chair does not allow the incumbent to exert additional influence on the contents of decisions; (ii) most Presidency influence of external policies is observed in the preparatory bodies of the Council, while at the ministerial or international level this influence is much smaller; and (iii) although the Presidency can play a rather prominent role in organizing multilateral events, this rarely amounts to real political influence. In turn, the Presidency's influence is most tangible in specific bilateral dossiers

Assessment of the pollution status of alluvial plains : a case study for the dredged sediment-derived soils along the Leie River

The concept of an integrated multifunctional river management is gaining importance. For major rivers, restoring the contact between rivers and alluvial plains is an important goal, as riparian areas have a specific role for several riverine processes. However, former and current human activities are an obstruction or a limitation for river restoration. We studied the influence of former dredging activities along the river Leie on the alluvial plain quality. A soil survey and an archive query for reconstructing the history of dredging operations were conducted simultaneously. The geographical impact expressed as topographical changes and covering of the original soil profile and related processes and biota was large. The pollution status of dredged sediment-derived soils was found to be far from negligible: concentrations of Cd, Cr, and Zn were, in 10% of the cases, higher than 20, 480, and 2800 mg kg(-1) DM, respectively. Both agriculture and nature rehabilitation on dredged sediment-derived soils can only be accepted after profound risk assessment, and management should focus on ecological risk reduction. Results indicate the importance of soil quality assessment in alluvial plains for an integrated river management, rather than a priori assuming pristine soil conditions. The collected "off-line" sediment data can be used as a reconstruction of past sediment pollution, especially when long-term sediment monitoring programs are not available