French Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Set as bookmark

French Presidency of the Council of the European Union

France will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1 January to 30 June 2022, the first French presidency since 2008. It is an opportunity for France to move Europe forward in a number of areas, including digital, ecological transition, defence and the security of the European Union.

Strasbourg, European capital, will be a central part of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, hosting some 40 events in the city.

What is the Council of the European Union ?

  • The Council of the European Union is an institution of the European Union, similarly to the European Parliament and the European Commission
  • The Council of the European Union brings together the ministers of the Member States by sector of activity: general affairs; economic and financial affairs; justice and home affairs; employment, social policy, health and consumer protection policy; competitiveness (internal markets, industry, research and space); transport, telecommunications and energy; agriculture and fisheries; environment; education; youth, culture and sport.
  • It is one of the main decision-making bodies of the European Union.
  • The Council of the European Union shares legislative and budgetary power with the European Parliament and concludes international agreements on behalf of the European Union. It represents and defends the interests of the Member States of the European Union.

What are the responsibilities and challenges facing France during this presidency ?

The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is held every 6 months by a different Member State. The Presidency’s role involves acting as a broker and seeking compromises. It sets out to :

  • Follow the European legislative agenda and draw up compromises to resolve political issues between the governments of the 27 Member States or between the governments and the European Parliament.
  • Organise and chair all the sector meetings of the Council of the EU; each French minister will take up this responsibility within his or her own field of competence. 

France will therefore hold the presidency of one of the main institutions of the European Union, on behalf of the 27 Member States. A significant part of this involves brokering compromises, a task made increasingly complex by the enlargement of the European Union.

What is the programme of the French Presidency ? 

 Recovery, strength and a sense of belonging

The programme of the French presidency : 

  • European migration issues, with the reform of the Schengen area,
  • the European Union security and defence agenda 
  • a new European model for growth with the implementation of a European Green Pact and an emphasis on the social and solidarity economy, 
  • digital, with the adoption of rules for digital services and markets
  • relations between Africa and the European Union, including the organisation of a major summit
  • the introduction of a European civic service for young people under the age of 25. 

It will also be under the French presidency of the Council of the European Union that the Conference on the Future of Europe will come to an end. The Conference is a Europewide citizen debate, based on a specially-created multilingual digital platform, allowing any citizen to exchange and share their ideas and express their expectations as to Europe’s institutions. It was launched in May 2021 across all 27 countries of the European Union.
http://futureu.europa.eu

What events will be hosted by Strasbourg as part of the FPCEU ?

3 types of events will be held in Strasbourg : 

  • Theme-based interministerial meetings involving the 27 European ministers in the configurations
  • Meetings between European policy experts and officials
  • Conferences organised with civic society stakeholders, economic networks, territorial authorities, etc.

The City and Eurometropolis will be active partners in 2 main events held in conjunction with local and regional stakeholders :

  1. The Social and Solidarity Economy, the Future of Europe summit, in partnership with the European institutions, to be held in February 2022 for ministers and in May 2022 for civil society stakeholders.
  2. The 2nd Biennial of European Town Centre Conferences will take place on 28 and 29 June 2022 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, in partnership with the Centre-Ville en Movement association.

For more details, the following websites give the programme of events and latest news:

To gain a better understanding of how the European Union functions and to know who does what, watch the “ Ms. Europe ” video.


https://youtu.be/IULPVuIp6w8

 

More information about Strasbourg European Capital