The Presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates among the EU Member States every six months and the country holding the Presidency drives forward the Council’s work. The EU Council is an essential decision maker which together with the European Parliament adopts legislation and coordinates EU policies.
Presidency is an opportunity for each Member State, regardless of its size or the length of the membership, to influence the EU agenda and guide the EU endeavours. Malta for the first time is assuming this task from 1 January 2017 to 30 June 2017 taking it over from Slovakia and afterwards handing over the reins of the Presidency to the Estonia.
Member states holding the presidency work together closely in groups of three, called ‘trios’. This 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 this programme, each of the three countries prepares its own more detailed 6-month programme.
The current trio is made up of the presidencies of the Netherlands, Slovakia and Malta.
Priorities of the Maltese Presidency in 2017 are available here
The tasks of the presidency
The presidency is responsible for driving forward the Council’s work on EU legislation, ensuring the continuity of the EU agenda, orderly legislative processes and cooperation among member states. To do this, the presidency must act as an honest and neutral broker.
The presidency has two main tasks:
- Planning and chairing meetings in the Council and its preparatory bodies
The presidency chairs meetings of the different Council configurations (with the exception of the Foreign Affairs Council) and the Council’s preparatory bodies, which include permanent committees such as the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper), and working parties and committees dealing with very specific subjects.
The presidency ensures that discussions are conducted properly and that the Council’s rules of procedure and working methods are correctly applied.
It also organises various formal and informal meetings in Brussels and in the country of the rotating presidency.
- Representing the Council in relations with the other EU institutions
The presidency represents the Council in relations with the other EU institutions, particularly with the Commission and the European Parliament. Its role is to try and reach agreement on legislative files through trilogues, informal negotiation meetings and Conciliation Committee meetings.
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 requested to perform certain duties for the high representative, such as representing the Foreign Affairs Council before the European Parliament or chairing the Foreign Affairs Council when it discusses common commercial policy issues.
