by Mélanie Pontet

The Presidency of the European Union Council is not a motionless work station. Every six months it changes and becomes a responsibility of a new person, of a new country. Until the 31st December, it is the turn of Finland. How and why? Answers in this article…

Everybody has heard of the term, but who is able to explain it?? The presidency of the European Union Council is actually a turning presidency and it is the main decision-making process in Europe. In other words, after one semester it always changes and becomes the mission of a new country. The rotation is organised each six months depending on a given order. What’s more is that the last countries entering the European Union are also integrated in this process, without needing to wait for their turn, which could be very long for some of them. For example, during the first semester of 2008, Slovenia will take Presidency after Germany and Portugal. This country will be the first new member since the last enlargement.

Presidency organises and chairs all the meetings, submitting and grouping work for the Council. Presidency has to prepare efficiently the work of the Council in order to facilitate the progress of the different files. Sometimes it has the role of conciliator between the European States as well.

Moreover it is the voice of the European Union Council, besides the other institutions like European Commission or European Parliament for instance. This mission is not limited within the frontiers of Europe: it plays a role among the international scene, for instance when ONU’ submits take place. In a nutshell, the voice of European Union and so each country takes this task as serious as possible.

Finnish Presidency until the end of 2006

At the moment the Presidency of the European Council is in the hands of Finland. Finland has this responsibility since the 1st July 2006, and will keep it until the 31st December of the same year. Matti Vanhanen, the Prime Minister, is the politic personality chosen to assume the role of President. Vanhanen had lot of ambition for the Presidency of the European Council even if his would be much different than that made by the first Presidency of Finland in 1999like he explained in July 2006 “The European Union today is quite different from the Union we joined over ten years ago, and whose work we led during our first Presidency seven years ago. The enlargement from a community of 15 members to one of 25 members has, naturally, altered the Union’s dynamics.

At the beginning of his mission, the Finnish Prime Minister was realistic: “The Union faces two key problems: weak legitimacy and ineffective decision-making, which lead to lack of visible, tangible results. Finland will address these two problems during its Presidency”. His two main goals for this Presidency are resumed in this sentence, but are they so easy to solve? To know we have to wait for the 31st December…