The Presidency of the Council of the EU rotates among Member States every six months. In the first half of 2012, Denmark will hold the Presidency for the 7th time and will thus guide the work among the Member States. When holding the rotating Presidency, the presiding Member State to some extent gets the chance to influence the EU agenda, provide impetus to the EU system and strengthen public support for the EU in the Member States.

The tasks of the EU Presidency 

The Presidency has two main tasks:

• The first is to plan and chair the meetings in the Council of the EU and underlying bodies. It is the responsibility of the Presidency to move the work of the Council forward and create results, to ensure cooperation among Member States and formulate compromise proposals that can gather support. To do this, the Presidency must act in its capacity of an honest and neutral broker.
• Secondly, the Presidency represents the Council in its dealings with the other EU institutions, not least the Commission and the European Parliament. This entails, among other things, that the Presidency is the representative of the 27 Member States in negotiations with the Commission and the European Parliament.

The Danish Presidency in 2002 and previous Presidencies

Denmark became a member of the European Union on 1 January 1973. Denmark has held the Presidency in the following periods: 1973 (second half), 1978 (first half), 1982 (second half), 1987 (second half), 1993 (first half) and latest in the second half of 2002.

The latest Presidency in 2002 was considered a great success not least due to the successful negotiations on EU enlargement which led to an agreement on admission of ten new Member States from mainly the Baltic region and Eastern Europe – the biggest enlargement in the history of the European Union. Other focus areas during the 2002 Presidency were the EU’s global responsibility, the Single Market, sustainable development and food safety in Europe.

Find more about Danish EU Presidency at http://eu2012.dk.