The frequency of the exercise diminishes with each expansion. Since the Treaty of Rome‘s enactment on January 1st, 1958, a rotating six-month presidency of the Council of Ministers, alphabetically determined by the countries’ native names, was established among Member States.
With six EEC members, France held the presidency triennially. Currently, a 13-year wait is necessary, accommodating the other 26 capitals’ turns. Paris, presiding over the EU Council’s agenda in the first half of 2022, won’t regain this role until 2035.
► Six French Presidents at the Helm
From 1959 to 1968, Charles de Gaulle held four presidencies (1959-1962-1965-1968); Georges Pompidou, one (1971); Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, two (1974 and 1979); François Mitterrand, three (1984, 1989, 1995); Jacques Chirac, two (1995 and 2000); and Nicolas Sarkozy, one (2008). Only François Hollande missed his turn.
→ EXPLANATION. The French EU Presidency: What Does It Entail?
Emmanuel Macron is the second French leader to assume the EU Council’s leadership during a presidential campaign. In 1995, François Mitterrand, not seeking reelection, yielded to Jacques Chirac after the May 7th victory.
In 1965, the presidency spanned January to June, preceding De Gaulle’s December election. This period initiated the “Empty Chair” crisis concerning the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funds, resolving only in January 1966.
Shifting Dynamics
The EU’s rotating presidency wasn’t formalized until the 1970s, following the 1974 creation of the European Council, uniting heads of state and government under Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt’s guidance. The Maastricht and Nice Treaties later enshrined this arrangement.
French presidencies have coincided with both European crises and advancements. In 1984, the Élysée resolved the CAP funding dispute stemming from the British Prime Minister’s 1979 demand for budgetary compensation (“I want my money back!”). In 1989, Paris guided the Union as the Berlin Wall fell, coinciding with Helmut Kohl’s preparations for German reunification. “Mitterrand played a
