The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member states of the EU every six months. The presidency is not an individual, but rather the position is held by a national government. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the "

president of the European Union The official title President of the European Union (or President of Europe) does not exist, but there are a number of presidents of European Union institutions, including: * the President of the European Council (since 1 December 2019, Charle ...

". The presidency's function is to chair meetings of the council, determine its agendas, set a work programme and facilitate dialogue both at Council meetings and with other

EU institutions The institutions of the European Union are the seven principal decision-making bodies of the European Union and the Euratom. They are, as listed in Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union: * the European Parliament, * the European Council ...

. The presidency is currently, as of July 2022, held by the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. Three successive presidencies are known as ''presidency trios''. The current trio (2022–2023) is made up of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

(January–June 2022),

(July–December 2022) and Sweden (January–July 2023). The German presidency began the second cycle of presidencies, after the system was introduced in 2007.

History

When the council was established, its work was minimal and the presidency rotated between each of the then six members every six months. However, as the work load of the Council grew and the membership increased, the lack of coordination between each successive six-month presidency hindered the development of long-term priorities for the EU. In order to rectify the lack of coordination, the idea of trio presidencies was put forward where groups of three successive presidencies cooperated on a common political program. This was implemented in 2007 and formally laid down in the

EU treaties The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union (EU) member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures ...

in 2009 by the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...

. Until 2009, the Presidency had assumed political responsibility in all areas of European integration and it played a vital role in brokering high-level political decisions. The

reduced the importance of the Presidency significantly by officially separating the European Council from the

. Simultaneously it split the foreign affairs Council configuration from the General Affairs configuration and created the position of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. After the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union in 2016 and its subsequent relinquishment of its scheduled presidency in the Council of the European Union which was due to take place from July to December 2017, the rotation of presidencies was brought six months forward. Estonia was scheduled to take over the UK's six-month slot instead. The presidency is currently (as of July 2022) held by the

Functioning

The Council meets in various formations where its composition depends on the topic discussed. For example, the Agriculture Council is composed of the national ministers responsible for Agriculture. The primary responsibility of the Presidency is to organise and chair all meetings of the council, apart from the

Foreign Affairs Council The Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) is a configuration of the Council of the European Union that convenes once a month. Meetings bring together the foreign ministers of the member states. Ministers responsible for European affairs, defence, developm ...

which is chaired by the

High Representative The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held b ...

. So, for instance, the Minister of Agriculture for the state holding the presidency chairs the Agriculture council. This role includes working out compromises capable of resolving difficulties. Article 16(9) of the Treaty on European Union provides: Each three successive presidencies cooperate on a "triple-shared presidency" work together over an 18-month period to accomplish a common agenda by the current president simply continuing the work of the previous "lead-president" after the end of his/her term. This ensures more consistency in comparison to a usual single six-month presidency and each three includes a new member state. This allows new member states to hold the presidency sooner and helps old member states pass their experience to the new members. The role of the rotating Council Presidency includes: *

agenda-setting Agenda setting describes the "ability (of the news media) to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public agenda". The study of agenda-setting describes the way media attempts to influence viewers, and establish a hierarchy of news ...

powers: in its 6-month programme, it decides on the order to discuss propositions, after they have been submitted by the Commission in its agenda monopoly powers * brokering inter-institutional compromise:

Formal Trilogue meeting A formal trilogue meeting, more commonly known as a trilogue, is a type of meeting used in the European Union (EU) legislative process. It takes its name from a literary form, the trilogue, which means a conversation with three parties. Trilogue ...

s between Commission, Parliament and Council are held to reach early consensus in the codecision legislative procedure; the Presidency takes part to the

Conciliation Committee A formal trilogue meeting, more commonly known as a trilogue, is a type of meeting used in the European Union (EU) legislative process. It takes its name from a literary form, the trilogue, which means a conversation with three parties. Trilogue n ...

between Parliament and Council in the third stage of the codecision legislative procedure * coordinating national policies and brokering compromise between member states in the council ("confessional system") * management and administration of the council, external and internal representation Holding the rotating Council Presidency includes both advantages and disadvantages for member states; The opportunities include: # member states have the possibility to show their negotiating skills, as "honest brokers", thus gaining influence and prestige # member states gain a privileged access to information: at the end of their term, they know member states' preferences better than anyone else # the Council programme may enable member states to focus Council discussion on issues of particular national/regional interest (for example Finland and the

Northern Dimension The Northern Dimension (ND) is a joint policy between four equal partners - the European Union, Russia, Norway and Iceland - regarding the cross-border and external policies geographically covering Northwest Russia, the Baltic Sea and the Arctic ...

initiative) The burdens include: # lack of administrative capacities and experience, especially for small and new member states; the concept of ''trio''/''troika'' has been introduced to enable member states to share experiences and ensure coherence on an 18-months base # expenses in time and money, needed to support the administrative machine # not being able to push through their own interests, as the role of Council Presidency is seen as an impartial instance; member states trying to push for initiatives of their own national interest are likely to see them failing in the medium run (for example the French 2008 Presidency and the

Union for the Mediterranean The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM; french: Union pour la Méditerranée, ar, الإتحاد من أجل المتوسط ''Al-Ittiḥād min ajl al-Mutawasseṭ'') is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the M ...

project), as they need consensus and do not have enough time to reach it. This element is particularly substantial: holding the presidency may be, on balance, a disadvantage for member states

List of rotations

Notes

References

External links

Presidency of the Council of the European Union

EuroEsprit.org
Council Decision of 1 January 2007 determining the order in which the office of President of the Council shall be held (2007/5/EC, Euratom)
Official Journal of the European Union

lecture by Maciej Pisarski (Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, DC), delivered at the University of Illinois, 2 December 2011; European Union Center at the University of Illinois
Cyprus takes over EU presidency amid doubts
The Guardian, 4 July 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Presidency Of The Council Of The European Union Council of the European Union European Union-related lists Political offices of the European Union

History

Functioning

List of rotations

See also

Notes

References

External links