The Presidency of the Council of the European Union refers to the responsibility of presiding over all aspects of the Council of the European Union, when exercised collectively by a government, on a pre-established rota of the member states, of the European Union. The Presidency, which is sometimes informally called the European Presidency, has as its primary responsibility to organize and chair all meetings of the Council. However, working out compromises capable of resolving difficulties is in practice also a primary responsibility.

The post as President of the Council of the European Union is for each separate meeting held by the responsible government minister of the member state holding the Presidency. Separate from the Council of the European Union there is also the European Council, which meets at European summits at about four times per year. The task as President of the assembled European Council, is similarly performed by the head of government or head of state of the member state holding the Presidency. The President is primarily responsible for preparing and chairing Council meetings, and has no executive powers.

Rota

The Council of the European Union is presided over for a period of six months by each member state of the European Union in turn, in accordance with a pre-established rota unless the Council makes a new decision.

year		member state holding presidency	minister responsible (usually the foreign minister)
1958	First half-year	Belgium	Victor Larock
	Second half-year	Germany	Siegfried Balke
1959	First half-year	France	Maurice Couve de Murville
	Second half-year	Italy	Giuseppe Pella
1960	First half-year	Luxembourg	Eugène Schaus
	Second half-year	Netherlands	Joseph Luns
1961	First half-year	Belgium	Paul-Henri Spaak
	Second half-year	Germany	Gerhard Schröder
1962	First half-year	France	Maurice Couve de Murville
	Second half-year	Italy	Emilio Colombo
1963	First half-year	Luxembourg	Eugène Schaus
	Second half-year	Netherlands	Joseph Luns
1964	First half-year	Belgium	Hendrik Fayat
	Second half-year	Germany	Gerhard Schröder
1965	First half-year	France	Maurice Couve de Murville
	Second half-year	Italy	Amintore Fanfani
1966	First half-year	Luxembourg	Pierre Werner
	Second half-year	Netherlands	Barend Biesheuvel
1967	First half-year	Belgium	Renaat Van Elslande
	Second half-year	Germany	Willy Brandt
1968	First half-year	France	Maurice Couve de Murville
	Second half-year	Italy	Giuseppe Medici
1969	First half-year	Luxembourg	Pierre Grégoire
	Second half-year	Netherlands	Joseph Luns
1970	First half-year	Belgium	Pierre Harmel
	Second half-year	Germany	Walter Scheel
1971	First half-year	France	Maurice Schumann
	Second half-year	Italy	Aldo Moro
1972	First half-year	Luxembourg	Gaston Thorn
	Second half-year	Netherlands	Norbert Schmelzer
1973	First half-year	Belgium	Pierre Harmel
	Second half-year	Denmark	Ivar Nørgaard
1974	First half-year	Germany	Walter Scheel
	Second half-year	France	Jean Sauvagnargues
1975	First half-year	Ireland	Garret FitzGerald
	Second half-year	Italy	Mariano Rumor
1976	First half-year	Luxembourg	Gaston Thorn
	Second half-year	Netherlands	Max van der Stoel
1977	First half-year	United Kingdom	Anthony Crosland, then David Owen
	Second half-year	Belgium	Henri Simonet
1978	First half-year	Denmark	Knud Børge Andersen
	Second half-year	Germany	Hans-Dietrich Genscher
1979	First half-year	France	Jean François-Poncet
	Second half-year	Ireland	Jack Lynch
1980	First half-year	Italy	Attilio Ruffini
	Second half-year	Luxembourg	Colette Flesch
1981	First half-year	Netherlands	Chris van der Klaauw
	Second half-year	United Kingdom	Peter Carrington
1982	First half-year	Belgium	Léo Tindemans
	Second half-year	Denmark	Uffe Ellemann-Jensen
1983	First half-year	Germany	Hans-Dietrich Genscher
	Second half-year	Greece	Grigoris Varfis
1984	First half-year	France	Roland Dumas
	Second half-year	Ireland	Peter Barry
1985	First half-year	Italy	Giulio Andreotti
	Second half-year	Luxembourg	Jacques Poos
1986	First half-year	Netherlands	Hans van den Broek
	Second half-year	United Kingdom	Geoffrey Howe
1987	First half-year	Belgium	Léo Tindemans
	Second half-year	Denmark	Uffe Ellemann-Jensen
1988	First half-year	Germany	Hans-Dietrich Genscher
	Second half-year	Greece	Theodoros Pangalos
1989	First half-year	Spain	Francisco Fernández Ordóñez
	Second half-year	France	Roland Dumas
1990	First half-year	Ireland	Gerard Collins
	Second half-year	Italy	Gianni De Michelis
1991	First half-year	Luxembourg	Jacques Poos
	Second half-year	Netherlands	Hans van den Broek
1992	First half-year	Portugal	João de Deus Pinheiro
	Second half-year	United Kingdom	Douglas Hurd
1993	First half-year	Denmark	Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
	Second half-year	Belgium	Willy Claes
1994	First half-year	Greece	Karolos Papoulias
	Second half-year	Germany	Klaus Kinkel
1995	First half-year	France	Alain Juppé
	Second half-year	Spain	Javier Solana
1996	First half-year	Italy	Lamberto Dini
	Second half-year	Ireland	Dick Spring
1997	First half-year	Netherlands	Hans van Mierlo
	Second half-year	Luxembourg	Jacques Poos
1998	First half-year	United Kingdom	Robin Cook
	Second half-year	Austria	Wolfgang Schüssel
1999	First half-year	Germany	Joschka Fischer
	Second half-year	Finland [1] (http://presidency.finland.fi/)	Tarja Halonen
2000	First half-year	Portugal	Jaime Gama
	Second half-year	France	Hubert Védrine
2001	First half-year	Sweden [2] (http://eu2001.se/)	Anna Lindh
	Second half-year	Belgium [3] (http://www.eu2001.be/)	Louis Michel
2002	First half-year	Spain	Josep Piqué i Camps
	Second half-year	Denmark [4] (http://www.eu2002.dk/)	Per Stig Møller
2003	First half-year	Greece [5] (http://www.eu2003.gr/en/cat/0/index.asp)	George Papandreou
	Second half-year	Italy [6] (http://www.euitaly2003.it/EN/)	Franco Frattini
2004	First half-year	Ireland [7] (http://www.eu2004.ie/)	Brian Cowen
	Second half-year	Netherlands [8] (http://www.eu2004.nl/)	Ben Bot
2005	First half-year	Luxembourg [9] (http://www.eu2005.lu/) [10] (http://www.gouvernement.lu/dossiers/union_europeenne/presidence2005/index.html)
	Second half-year	United Kingdom [11] (http://www.eu2005.gov.uk/)
2006	First half-year	Austria
	Second half-year	Finland

External links

• Presidency of the Council of the European Union (http://ue.eu.int/en/presid.htm)
• Logos of the Council Presidencies (http://www.euroesprit.org/eu_presidencies.html)
• Council Decision of 1 January 1995 determining the order in which the office of President of the Council shall be held (http://europa.eu.int/abc/obj/treaties/en/entr22.htm#I___Council_Decision_of_1_January_1995_determining_the_order_in_which_the_office_of_President_of_the_Council_shall_be_held)