Denmark assumes the EU Presidency

The Member State holding the EU Presidency faces a huge and demanding task. In essence, the main task of the Member State holding the Presidency is to set the agenda in the EU and act as the driving force in the processing of EU matters. It means that the Presidency is to plan and chair the meetings of EU Member States’ ministers, etc. in the Council and all the working teams with officials connected with the Council.

Since 2002 when Denmark held the EU Presidency last time, a great many things have changed. In 2002, a total of 15 countries were members of the EU – today there are 27. The mere fact that there are so many new Member States now means that the work of the Presidency is very different. Furthermore, in 2009 new ground rules were introduced for the EU cooperation in the form of a new treaty – the Treaty of Lisbon.

The Lisbon Treaty changed the Presidency in important areas. Member States no longer take turns to chair the part of the cooperation that involves the EU foreign policy. Instead, a special position has been created as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy that chairs the Foreign Affairs Council. Today, the position is held by former British Commissioner Catherine Ashton. However, EU Member States still take it in turns to chair the other configurations of the Council for six months at a time.

Furthermore, the European Council where EU Heads of State or Government convene has got a permanent President who is appointed for two and a half years at a time. It means that the Member State holding the Presidency is no longer to chair the EU Summits of Heads of State or Government. The term of the first permanent President of the European Council expires in 2012. Therefore, it will be the responsibility of the Danish Presidency to chair negotiations among the EU Member States on either to reappoint Belgian Herman van Rompuy or find another candidate for the position.