A Few Words About the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union

As a German citizen, I am bound to write a few words about the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union as well as about what this Presidency actually entails. On January 1, 2007, Germany has taken over the Presidency from Finland. Germany will hold the Presidency for six months. In July, Portugal will assume the Presidency for the next six months, followed by Slovenia ...

The Council of the European Union is part of the legislature in the European Union. It meets in different formations [Council website], depending on the issues discussed, with each member state delegating a minister responsible for the specific area (i.e. if environmental issues are to be discussed, member states will send their ministers who are responsible for environmental affairs).

The member state holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union [overview, German Presidency website] acts as a chairman of the different Council configurations as well as of the various preparatory committees, working groups etc. In addition, the President of the Council of the European Union (i.e. the foreign minister of the member state holding the Presidency) prepares the agenda for the Council, signs legal acts, and represents the Council with regards to foreign affairs.

The slogan of the German Presidency is "Europe - succeeding together". Germany has developed an extensive program [text, pdf] and will organize two summits: The first one will take place the coming week and will deal with questions of the European Union's economic and social future. The second summit will be held in June and will address the future of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution of Europe.

While the frequent change of Presidencies of the Council of the European Union shall guarantee the best representation of interests of the respective member states, it is often too short to bring about major changes or reforms and it is up to the succeeding state to decide whether it will continue these efforts or set its own priorities...

In view of this problem, Germany, Portugal, and Slovenia have come together and developed a 18-month program [text, pdf] covering their three successive Presidencies. Maybe this program represents the necessary step to bring about the looked-for reform to make the European Union more apt to deal with the ever growing number of member states. It remains to be seen what future will bring...