While many studies have focused on the European Commission and its potential to act as a policy entrepreneur, scant research has been undertaken into how intergovernmental institutions as a whole are able to shape and advocate certain policies. This paper fills that gap by analysing the Council debates on two major European Union strategies, namely the Small Business Act for Europe and the Europe 2020 strategy.

The debates were analysed on the basis of newspaper articles in the daily bulletins of Agence Europe, and the 469 statements identified were qualitatively evaluated by means of content analysis. The results demonstrate that the Council as a whole is able to act as a policy entrepreneur if certain conditions are met, namely a common interest and political goal among member states, a need for economic measures due to a crisis situation, and the possibility of shifting unpopular decisions to Brussels.