The presidency of the Council of the EU

What the presidency does   

The presidency of the Council is responsible for driving forward the Council's work on EU legislation, maintaining the continuity of the EU agenda, and ensuring orderly legislative processes and cooperation among member states.   

Its role is vital for the stability of the EU and for the performance of its legislative functions. 

Five key tasks  

The presidency’s key tasks include: planning, coordinating and chairing meetings, representing the Council, negotiating with other EU institutions, communicating about its activities and serving as an honest broker to find agreements in the Council.

Planning, coordinating and chairing meetings

The presidency plans, coordinates and chairs the meetings held by the Council (except for the Foreign Affairs Council) and by most of the Council’s preparatory bodies.

Being an honest broker

It serves as an honest broker in discussions, suggesting compromise solutions with a view to reaching an agreement in the Council.

Representing the Council

The presidency represents the Council in its relations with the European Parliament, the European Commission and other EU institutions.

Negotiating with other EU institutions

It negotiates on behalf of the Council to reach agreements on legislative files with other EU institutions.

Communicating about its activities

The presidency helps to inform the public about the Council’s activities, for example by preparing press briefings.

The presidency is, by definition, neutral. Its role is to act as an honest broker. The country holding the presidency cannot favour either its own preferences or those of a particular member state.

Since there are 27 member states and they hold the presidency for six months each, every member, however big or small, holds the presidency of the Council every 13.5 years.

The presidency works in close coordination with:

• the President of the European Council
• the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

It supports their work and may sometimes be asked to perform certain duties for the high representative, such as representing the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) before the European Parliament or chairing the FAC when it discusses common commercial policy issues.

A rotating presidency  

Every EU country holds the presidency of the Council for six months at a time. The order in which each member state holds the presidency is set by a Council decision. 

During the six-month period, the presidency chairs meetings at all levels in the Council, helping to ensure the continuity of the legislative work.

• List of presidencies of the Council of the European Union

Who will hold the presidency next?

 Trio of presidencies  

Groups of three member states holding successive presidencies work together closely as a 'trio'.   

This trio system was introduced by the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. The trio sets long-term goals and prepares a common agenda determining the topics and major issues that will be addressed by the Council over an 18-month period.

On the basis of the trio programme, each of the three countries prepares its own more detailed six-month programme.  

The current trio is made up of:   

• Ireland  
• Lithuania  
• Greece

• Trio programme for Ireland, Lithuania and Greece

See also

• How the work in the Council is organised