Member States agree on presidency running order

Date: 25/11/04

Member states have agreed on their running order for the next round of presidencies from 2007. Reflecting a balance of political leaning, geographical situation, economic weight, and 'old' and 'new' members, the new list covers the period 2007-20. EU countries holding the presidency will work in teams of three.

The list has yet to be formally approved and could pose the Council of Ministers a problem: what is the legal status of a decision concerning 27 member states when two of them - Bulgaria and Romania - are not yet part of the EU? The Council has until 1 May 2005 to ponder.

• Germany Jan-June 2007
• Portugal July-Dec 2007
• Slovenia Jan-June 2008
• France July-Dec 2008
• Czech Rep Jan-June 2009
• Sweden July-Dec 2009
• Spain Jan-June 2010
• Belgium July-Dec 2010
• Hungary Jan-June 2011
• Poland July-Dec 2011
• Denmark Jan-June 2012
• Cyprus July-Dec 2012
• Ireland Jan-June 2013
• Lithuania July-Dec 2013
• Greece Jan-June 2014
• Italy July-Dec 2014
• Latvia Jan-June 2015
• Luxembourg July-Dec 2015
• Netherlands Jan-June 2016
• Slovakia July-Dec 2016
• Malta Jan-June 2017
• UK July-Dec 2017
• Estonia Jan-June 2018
• Bulgaria July-Dec 2018
• Austria Jan-June 2019
• Romania July-Dec 2019
• Finland Jan-June 2020
• Subject to Bulgaria and Romania joining the EU

EU Member States have agreed on their running order for the next round of Presidencies of the Council from 2007. Reflecting a balance of political leaning, geographical situation, economic weight, and 'old' and 'new' members, the new list covers the period 2007-20.