Presidency of the Council of the European Union
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Presidency of the Council of the European Union refers to the responsibility of presiding over all aspects of the Council of the European Union, when exercised collectively by a government, on a pre-established rota of the member states, of the European Union. The Presidency, which is sometimes informally called the European Presidency, has as its primary responsibility to organize and chair all meetings of the Council. However, working out compromises capable of resolving difficulties is in practice also a primary responsibility.
The post as President of the Council of the European Union is for each separate meeting held by the responsible government minister of the member state holding the Presidency. Separate from the Council of the European Union there is also the European Council, which meets at European summits at about four times per year. The task as President of the assembled European Council, is similarly performed by the head of government or head of state of the member state holding the Presidency. The President is primarily responsible for preparing and chairing Council meetings, and has no executive powers.
[edit] Rota
The Council of the European Union is presided over for a period of six months by each member state of the European Union in turn, in accordance with a pre-established rota unless the Council makes a new decision.
1 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 their place. In the event, the German elections took place in 2005 due to a loss of confidence vote, but the re-arrangement remains.
From 2007 the presidency will be triple-shared for periods of 1.5 years with one of the three countries assuming "leading role" during each half-year. This change was made so that the new member states get sooner to holding a presidency, but at the same time the triplets are arranged so, that in each of them there are both new and old member states - this way it is assumed that the old member states will pass their experience to the co-presidency new-members. It is also assumed that 1.5 year presidencies (even triple-shared) will be better at accomplishing policies, because the main agenda items will not be changed each half-year, but each 1.5 years (each three states will execute a common program). The table below was agreed in 2004 with the assumption that Bulgaria and Romania will become member states (their turns are in 2018 and 2019, so it is not important if their membership is delayed a little after 2007).
| Triplet | Year | Half-year | Member state leading presidency | Minister responsible (usually the Foreign minister) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | 2007 | Jan-Jun | Germany | |
| Jul-Dec | Portugal | |||
| 2008 | Jan-Jun | Slovenia | ||
| T2 | Jul-Dec | France | ||
| 2009 | Jan-Jun | Czech Republic | ||
| Jul-Dec | Sweden | |||
| T3 | 2010 | Jan-Jun | Spain | |
| Jul-Dec | Belgium | |||
| 2011 | Jan-Jun | Hungary | ||
| T4 | Jul-Dec | Poland | ||
| 2012 | Jan-Jun | Denmark | ||
| Jul-Dec | Cyprus | |||
| T5 | 2013 | Jan-Jun | Ireland | |
| Jul-Dec | Lithuania | |||
| 2014 | Jan-Jun | Greece | ||
| T6 | Jul-Dec | Italy | ||
| 2015 | Jan-Jun | Latvia | ||
| Jul-Dec | Luxembourg | |||
| T7 | 2016 | Jan-Jun | Netherlands | |
| Jul-Dec | Slovakia | |||
| 2017 | Jan-Jun | Malta | ||
| T8 | Jul-Dec | United Kingdom | ||
| 2018 | Jan-Jun | Estonia | ||
| Jul-Dec | Bulgaria | |||
| T9 | 2019 | Jan-Jun | Austria | |
| Jul-Dec | Romania | |||
| 2020 | Jan-Jun | Finland |
