The Presidency, i.e. the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, is held by each Member State in turn for a period of six months. During this time, the Presidency is the "face and voice" of the European Union, speaking on behalf of all Member States. The order of rotation for the Presidency has been established for the period 2005 to 2020.

Tasks of the Presidency

- direct the work of the Council of the European Union
- maintain relations with other Union institutions
- represent the European Union in international matters.

In the second half of 2007 the Presidency is held by Portugal.

Portugal will be followed by Slovenia on 1 January 2008 and France on 1 July 2008.

Germany	January-June	2007
Portugal	July-December	2007
Slovenia	January-June	2008
France	July-December	2008
Czech Republic	January-June	2009
Sweden	July-December	2009
Spain	January-June	2010
Belgium	July-December	2010
Hungary	January-June	2011
Poland	July-December	2011
Denmark	January-June	2012
Cyprus	July-December	2012
Ireland	January-June	2013
Lithuania	July-December	2013
Greece	January-June	2014
Italy	July-December	2014
Latvia	January-June	2015
Luxembourg	July-December	2015
Netherlands	January-June	2016
Slovakia	July-December	2016
Malta	January-June	2017
United Kingdom	July-December	2017
Estonia	January-June	2018
Bulgaria	July-December	2018
Austria	January-June	2019
Romania	July-December	2019
Finland	January-June	2020