The EU Council Presidency: the parliamentary dimension

The German Bundestag is providing a parliamentary dimension to the German Presidency of the EU Council. In addition to debates on European policy being held in the plenary, the Conference of European Affairs Committees (COSAC) is to take place in the Reichstag Building in Berlin in May 2007. Seven of the Bundestag’s committees are organising conferences of committee chairpersons, on topics such as finance, defence and agricultural policy. Furthermore, parliamentary meetings, organised together with the European Parliament, are planned to be held in Brussels, at which the “Lisbon Strategy” and the “Future of Europe” will be discussed.

The individual Member States of the European Union take it in turn to hold the EU Council Presidency for half a year according to a rotation system. Each country chooses the political priorities on which it wishes its Presidency to concentrate. This means the country holding the Council Presidency has a major role to play, providing policy and institutional leadership for the European Union. It represents the Council in its dealings both with other organs of the EU and with states outside the Union.

In the first half of 2007, important issues are on the European agenda: the European Union’s economic, social and environmental progress is to be safeguarded and enhanced. Furthermore, Germany will be seeking to continue the constitutional process with new dynamism, in accordance with the mandate given by the European Council in June 2006.