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 less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...

, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. 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 2024, Antóni ...

". 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 institutions of the European Union are the seven principal decision-making bodies of the European Union and Euratom governed under the Treaties of the European Union and European Union law. They are, as listed in Article 13 of the Treaty ...

. The presidency is currently, as of January 2025, held by

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Three successive presidencies are known as ''presidency trios''. The current trio is made up of

(January–June 2025),

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

(July–December 2025), and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

(January–June 2026). The 2020 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, procedure ...

in 2009 by the

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

. 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 The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

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 The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Un ...

. 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 January 2025) held by

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/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European U ...

. 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 theory suggests that the communications media, through their ability to identify and publicize issues, play a pivotal role in shaping the problems that attract attention from governments and international organizations, and direct p ...

powers: in its 6-month programme, it decides on the order to discuss propositions, after they have been submitted by the

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

in its agenda monopoly powers * brokering inter-institutional compromise:

Formal Trilogue meeting A trilogue meeting is a type of interinstitutional negotiation used in the European Union (EU) legislative process. The bodies involved in trilogue negotiations are the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Parlia ...

s between Commission, Parliament and Council are held to reach early consensus in the

codecision The European Union adopts legislation through a variety of procedures. The procedure used for a given legislative proposal depends on the policy area in question. Most legislation needs to be proposed by the European Commission and approved by ...

legislative procedure; the Presidency takes part to the Conciliation Committee 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 A ...

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; , ''Al-Ittiḥād min ajl al-Mutawasseṭ'') is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 27 Member state of the European Union, EU member states (i ...

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