Project Presidency

The Presidency of the Council of the European Union plays an important role in the EU’s decision-making system, rotating between the 27 EU member states every six months. Especially in the political context of the permacrisis, Council Presidencies have an important role in strengthening ties between Brussels and the national capitals. In these six months, have a steering, representative and agenda-setting function, providing a chance to shape the EU agenda with their policy priorities and promote their positions on EU affairs. Presidencies are an occasion for member states to be more present in Brussels and for the EU to be more visible in member states.

The EPC Project Presidency aims to take the EU Council Presidencies as an opportunity to burst the Brussels and national capitals’ bubbles and trans-nationalise EU policy debates. During each Presidency, the EPC teams up with a think tank from the country that is holding the Presidency and organises events to bring together decision-makers, policy experts, and analysts to debate the policy priorities of the Council Presidency openly and to provide analysis and recommendations for the EU institutions and member states.

Since Project Presidency’s start during Germany’s time at the helm of the Council in 2020, the EPC has organised project editions for each Presidency. Currently, EPC is cooperating with the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS) to accompany Sweden’s Presidency.

For more details on the various Project Presidency editions, click here:
- Spanish Council Presidency (July 2023 - December 2023)
- Swedish Council Presidency (January 2023 - June 2023)
- Czech Council Presidency (July 2022 - December 2022)
- French Council Presidency (January 2022 - June 2022)
- Slovenian Council Presidency (July 2021 - December 2021)
- Portuguese Council Presidency (January 2021 - June 2021)
- German Council Presidency (July 2020 - December 2020)