Rotating Presidency

The Council of the European Union is an intergovernmental institution which represents member states’ interests and is united under ten different constitutions. The Presidency is a rotating presidency and a member state takes over the tasks bound to it for a period of six months.

The country in office must organise the work of the Council in cooperation with the Secretariat-General and hence lead the Union and ensure its continuity and smooth functioning. Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon at the end of 2009, the meetings of the European Council gathering the heads of states and governments have been chaired by the full-time president elected for a period of two and a half years, Herman Van Rompuy. Hence, the government of the Union is formed by collaboration between the President of the European Council and the Presidency in office.

During the six months, the Presidency in office plays a decisive role in the choice of affairs to which the Council directs its attention, and is in a position to strongly influence the way the EU manages political and economic affairs. The member state in office organises its work according to its own priorities. Most of these priorities make up the general agenda of the EU, as they are the "inherited” affairs in progress; the member state in office can, however, give new impetus to the Union’s collaboration in specific fields on which it places importance.

Securing consensus among the 27 member states is a priority when developing the programme of the Presidency; the latter represents the position of the Council, in accordance with the unanimously accepted political agreement, in front of the institutions of the Union, such as the European Parliament and the European Commission.

The three member states which succeed each other in the Presidency also cooperate closely as a “trio”: they can share experiences, help one another in their preparations, and collaborate closely in achieving their tasks, mainly in dealing with affairs that last longer than six months, and need the adoption of similar positions. The Trio Presidency was “institutionalised” by the Treaty of Lisbon coming into force.

The Spain–Belgium–Hungary trio is the first Presidency to function totally in accordance with the Lisbon rules. The three countries commonly elaborated the programme of the 18 month long Presidency period. This programme determines the planning of dossiers and legislative proposals that will form part of the agenda, as well as the planning of events, mainly the meetings of heads of state and government, and meetings at ministerial levels. The three countries also have a shared logo for the Presidency. The presidential trios hold regular discussions as well. Hence, Hungary puts strong emphasis on cooperating with the Polish Presidency, the first in office of the next trio. Particularly those issues are in focus, which are related to the common energy policy and the eastern dimension of the EU's neighbourhood policy.