Presidency of the Council of the European Union explained

Post:Presidency
Body:the Council of the European Union
Insignia:Council of the EU and European Council.svg
Insigniacaption:Emblem of the Council
Flag:Flag of Europe.svg
Flagcaption:Flag of Europe
Department:Council of the European Union
Termlength:Six months
Seat:
Formation:1958
Appointer:Rotation among the EU member states
Constituting Instrument:Treaties of the European Union
First: Belgium
Footnotes Title:Presidency trio
Footnotes: Spain • Belgium • Hungary

The presidency of the Council of the European Union[1] is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, 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 presidency's function is to chair meetings of the council, determine its agendas, set a work program and facilitate dialogue both at Council meetings and with other EU institutions. The presidency is currently, as of July 2024, held by Hungary.

Three successive presidencies are known as presidency trios. The current trio is made up of Spain (July-December 2023), Belgium (January–June 2024), and Hungary (July-December 2024). The 2020 German presidency began the second cycle of presidencies, after the system was introduced in 2007.[2]

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 in 2009 by the Treaty of Lisbon.

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 Treaty of Lisbon reduced the importance of the Presidency significantly by officially separating the European Council from the Council of the European Union. 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.[3] The presidency is currently (as of July 2024) held by Hungary.

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.[4]

The primary responsibility of the Presidency is to organise and chair all meetings of the council, apart from the Foreign Affairs Council which is chaired by the High Representative. 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:

Holding the rotating Council Presidency includes both advantages and disadvantages for member states;The opportunities include:

  1. member states have the possibility to show their negotiating skills, as "honest brokers", thus gaining influence and prestige
  2. member states gain a privileged access to information: at the end of their term, they know member states' preferences better than anyone else
  3. 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 initiative)

The burdens include:

  1. 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
  2. expenses in time and money, needed to support the administrative machine
  3. 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 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

PeriodTrioHolderHead of government [5]
1958January–June Achille Van Acker
Gaston Eyskens (from 26 June)
July–DecemberKonrad Adenauer
1959January–JuneCharles de Gaulle
July–DecemberAntonio Segni
1960January–JunePierre Werner
July–DecemberJan de Quay
1961January–JuneGaston Eyskens
Théo Lefèvre (from 25 April)
July–DecemberKonrad Adenauer
1962January–JuneMichel Debré
Georges Pompidou (from 14 April)
July–DecemberAmintore Fanfani
1963January–JunePierre Werner
July–DecemberJan de Quay
Victor Marijnen (from 24 July)
1964January–JuneThéo Lefèvre
July–DecemberLudwig Erhard
1965January–JuneGeorges Pompidou
July–DecemberAldo Moro
1966January–JunePierre Werner
July–DecemberJo Cals
Jelle Zijlstra (from 22 November)
1967January–JunePaul Vanden Boeynants
July–DecemberKurt Georg Kiesinger
1968January–JuneGeorges Pompidou
July–DecemberGiovanni Leone
Mariano Rumor (from 12 December)
1969January–JunePierre Werner
July–DecemberPiet de Jong
1970January–JuneGaston Eyskens
July–DecemberWilly Brandt
1971January–JuneJacques Chaban-Delmas
July–DecemberEmilio Colombo
1972January–JunePierre Werner
July–DecemberBarend Biesheuvel
1973January–JuneGaston Eyskens
Edmond Leburton (from 26 January)
July–DecemberAnker Jørgensen
Poul Hartling (from 19 December)
1974January–JuneWilly Brandt
Walter Scheel (7–16 May)
Helmut Schmidt (from 16 May)
July–DecemberJacques Chirac
1975January–JuneLiam Cosgrave
July–DecemberAldo Moro
1976January–JuneGaston Thorn
July–DecemberJoop den Uyl
1977January–JuneJames Callaghan
July–DecemberLeo Tindemans
1978January–JuneAnker Jørgensen
July–DecemberHelmut Schmidt
1979January–JuneRaymond Barre
July–DecemberJack Lynch
Charles Haughey
(from 11 December)
1980January–JuneFrancesco Cossiga
July–DecemberPierre Werner
1981January–JuneDries van Agt
July–DecemberMargaret Thatcher
1982January–JuneWilfried Martens
July–DecemberAnker Jørgensen
Poul Schlüter (from 10 September)
1983January–JuneHelmut Kohl
July–DecemberAndreas Papandreou
1984January–JunePierre Mauroy
July–DecemberGarret FitzGerald
1985January–JuneBettino Craxi
July–DecemberJacques Santer
1986January–JuneRuud Lubbers
July–DecemberMargaret Thatcher
1987January–JuneWilfried Martens
July–DecemberPoul Schlüter
1988January–JuneHelmut Kohl
July–DecemberAndreas Papandreou
1989January–JuneFelipe González
July–DecemberMichel Rocard
1990January–JuneCharles Haughey
July–DecemberGiulio Andreotti
1991January–JuneJacques Santer
July–DecemberRuud Lubbers
1992January–JuneAníbal Cavaco Silva
July–DecemberJohn Major
1993January–JunePoul Schlüter
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (from 25 January)
July–DecemberJean-Luc Dehaene
1994January–JuneAndreas Papandreou
July–DecemberHelmut Kohl
1995January–JuneÉdouard Balladur
Alain Juppé (from 17 May)
July–DecemberFelipe González
1996January–JuneLamberto Dini
Romano Prodi (from 17 May)
July–DecemberJohn Bruton
1997January–JuneWim Kok
July–DecemberJean-Claude Juncker
1998January–JuneTony Blair
July–DecemberViktor Klima
1999January–JuneGerhard Schröder
July–DecemberPaavo Lipponen
2000January–JuneAntónio Guterres
July–DecemberLionel Jospin
2001January–JuneGöran Persson
July–DecemberGuy Verhofstadt
2002January–JuneJosé María Aznar
July–DecemberAnders Fogh Rasmussen
2003January–JuneCostas Simitis
July–DecemberSilvio Berlusconi
2004January–JuneBertie Ahern
July–DecemberJan Peter Balkenende
2005January–JuneJean-Claude Juncker
July–DecemberTony Blair
2006January–JuneWolfgang Schüssel
July–December[6] Matti Vanhanen
2007January–JuneT1Angela Merkel
July–DecemberJosé Sócrates
2008January–JuneJanez Janša
July–DecemberT2François Fillon
2009January–JuneMirek Topolánek
Jan Fischer (from 8 May)
July–DecemberFredrik Reinfeldt
2010T3José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
July–DecemberYves Leterme
2011January–JuneViktor Orbán
July–DecemberT4Donald Tusk
2012January–JuneHelle Thorning-Schmidt
July–DecemberDemetris Christofias
2013January–JuneT5Enda Kenny
July–DecemberAlgirdas Butkevičius
2014January–JuneAntonis Samaras
July–DecemberT6Matteo Renzi
2015January–JuneLaimdota Straujuma
July–DecemberXavier Bettel
2016January–JuneT7Mark Rutte
July–DecemberRobert Fico
2017January–JuneJoseph Muscat
July–DecemberT8Jüri Ratas
2018January–JuneBoyko Borisov
July–DecemberSebastian Kurz
2019January–JuneT9Viorica Dăncilă
July–DecemberAntti Rinne
Sanna Marin (from 10 December)
2020January–JuneAndrej Plenković
July–DecemberT10Angela Merkel
2021January–JuneAntónio Costa
July–DecemberJanez Janša
2022January–JuneT11Jean Castex
Élisabeth Borne (from 16 May)
July–December
2023January–JuneUlf Kristersson
July–DecemberT12Pedro Sánchez
2024January–JuneAlexander De Croo
July–DecemberViktor Orbán
2025January–JuneT13TBD
July–DecemberTBD
2026January–JuneTBD
July–DecemberT14TBD
2027January–JuneTBD
July–DecemberTBD
2028January–JuneT15TBD
July–DecemberTBD
2029January–JuneTBD
July–DecemberT16TBD
2030January–JuneTBD
July–DecemberTBD

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The presidency of the Council of the EU. Council of the EU.
  2. Web site: Council of the European Union. Council of the EU. 14 May 2016.
  3. Council rotating presidencies: decision on revised order . Council of the European Union . 26 July 2016 . 26 July 2016.
  4. Web site: Council of the EU. Council of the European Union configurations. 25 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111125124334/http://www.consilium.europa.eu/council/council-configurations?lang=en. 25 November 2011. dead.
  5. Asterisk: Head of government is also head of state. This is the case for Cyprus and was the case for France until October 1958.
  6. Germany was due to succeed Austria in 2006 but stepped aside as general elections were scheduled for that period. Finland, as next in line, took Germany's place. Eventually the German elections took place in 2005 due to a loss of confidence vote, but the re-arrangement remained.

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