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European Council's rotating presidency (European Union)

Presentation of the European Council
Rotating Council presidency

See also:

European Union

Presentation of the European Council

The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member states of the EU every six months. The presidency's function is to chair meetings of the council, determine its agendas, set a work program and facilitate dialogue both at Council meetings and with other EU institutions.

Olivier Touzeau, 7 March 2025

Rotating Council presidency

2001, Belgium

Flag of the Belgian presidency of the European council, 2001 - left, Image by Olivier Touzeau, 30 May 2025
right, flag at Genval, September 2001, located by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 15 June 2025

I got to looking for any EU presidency, which brought me to this: Calendar of EU presidencies. It currently lists presidencies 2014 - 2020. Not only does that mean it's severely outdated, but its illustration is even more outdated. In fact, it was outdated since the first time the Wayback Engine stored that page. At the time the calender was 2003 - 2007. The image, small and hard to interpret it as it is, is: Belgian EU Presidency flag at Genval, September 2001 (Photo: Lisbeth Kirk)

Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 30 May 2025

Judging from the 2001 presidency logo found here (white background) and here (partial logo on blue background), and confirmed here, the photo shows this logo on a blue background.

Olivier Touzeau, 30 May 2025

2004, The Netherlands

Flag of the Dutch presidency of the European council, 2004 - left, Image by Tomislav Šipek, 16 June 2025
right, picture in front of The Kurhaus in The Hague, on the occasion of the gathering of the Council for Justice and Internal Affairs,
transmitted from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 15 June 2025

I asked the the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [and] got a very nice reply:
"Gedurende het Nederlandse voorzitterschap van de Raad van de Europese Unie in 2004 werd gebruik gemaakt van een vlag met het logo van het voorzitterschap. Deze vlag bestond uit het logo gedrukt op een geheel
wit vlak. ... Overigens zijn deze vlaggen niet meer beschikbaar." ("During the Dutch presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2004, a flag with the logo of the presidency was used. This flag consisted of the logo printed on a completely white surface. ... Incidentally, these flags are no longer available.")

Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 15 June 2025

2016, The Netherlands

Dutch presidency of the European council, 2016 - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 11 May 2025

NL 2016 presidency flag was visible in at least one spot: photo. "In front of the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs: the flag of the European Union, the flag of the Netherlands and a flag with the logo of the Dutch EU presidency."
The use of the letters "NL" styled in such a way that they doubled as the E of "EU" was not new, the logo for "nl 2004" had that design: source.

Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 11 & 28 May 2025

According to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Over het ontwerp van de vlag voor het Nederlandse voorzitterschap in 2029 is nog geen besluit genomen." ("No decision has as yet been taken on the design of the flag for the Dutch presidency in 2029.")

Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 15 June 2025

2020, Croatia

Croatian presidency of the European council, 2020 - Image by Tomislav Šipek, 11 June 2025

Flag of 2020 Croatian presidency -the flag was probably poorly noticed because the Covid-19 pandemic began then: photo, photo, photo.
The author of the visual identity is Iva Primorac, then a first-year student of the Graduate Study Program in Design at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb, together with mentors Professor Stipe Brčić and assistant Marija Juza.

Tomislav Šipek, 11 June 2025

2020, Germany

German presidency of the European council, 2020 - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 10 May 2025

2020 presidency flag for Germany: photo.

Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 10 May 2025

2021, Portugal

Portuguese presidency of the European council, 2021 - Image located by Luismi Arias, 8 April 2025

On this 2021 photo at a Portuguese government facility or venue, three flags can be seen, the one at the viewer’s right hand being also blue (like the EU flag) with also golden/yellow elements but these are small discs, arranged in a gearwheel/sun pattern.

António Martins, 8 April 2025

Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Portugal 2021, January-June: photo, photo

Luismi Arias & Olivier Touzeau, 8 April 2025

2021, Slovenia

Slovenian presidency of the European council, 2021 - Image by Tomislav Šipek, 13 June 2025

The flag of 2021 Slovenian presidency was white with logo: photo, photo, photo and 1:2 in size.

Tomislav Šipek & Olivier Touzeau, 13 June 2025

2022, France

French presidency of the European council, 2022 - left, image by Olivier Touzeau, 7 March 2025
right, "parliamentary dimension" flag, image by Tomislav Šipek, 13 June 2025

France held the presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first half of 2022.
Per European institutional rules, France was assuming the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months for the thirteenth time.

A white flag with the logo of the presidency was in use: photo, photo

Olivier Touzeau, 7 March 2025

In addition to this flag, a flag with the text "Parliamentary dimension" in French was also in use: photo.

Tomislav Šipek, 13 June 2025

2022, Czech republic

Czech presidency of the European council, 2022
left, image by Olivier Touzeau, 7 March 2025 - right, image by Tomislav Šipek, 13 June 2025

The Czech Republic's second Presidency of the Council of the European Union was held between 1 July and 31 December 2022.
A white flag with variant of the logo was in use: photo, photo.

Olivier Touzeau, 7 March & 28 May 2025

On the web you can find a flag with another variant of the logo, but I have to admit that I am a little skeptical considering how that photo looks, although the text below indicates that it should be the right one, although I could not find a flag with that variant of the logo anywhere else. Since this version of the logo is correct, so should the flag: image.

Tomislav Šipek, 13 June 2025

2023, Sweden

Swedish presidency of the European council, 2023
left, image by Tomislav Šipek, 13 June 2025 - right, image by Olivier Touzeau, 28 April 2025

The main flag was blue: photo, photo.

Tomislav Šipek, 13 June 2025

A white flag with the logo of the presidency was [also] in use: photo.

Olivier Touzeau, 28 April 2025

2023, Spain

Spanish presidency of the European council, 2023 - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 28 April 2025

Spain's presidency had a white flag with logo. In the logo the bars of the E of EU is in the spanish flag colours: photo.

Olivier Touzeau, 28 April 2025

2024, Belgium

Belgian presidency of the European council, 2024 -
Images by Zoltán Horváth, 9 April 2025 and Olivier Touzeau, 12 May 2025

The Presidency was led by Belgium in first half of last year: photo, photo (blue version)

Zoltán Horváth, 9 April 2025

[white version of] the flag: photo.

Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 12 May 2025

2024, Hungary

Hungarian presidency of the European council, 2024
left, image by Zoltán Horváth, 9 April 2025 - center and right, images by Tomislav Šipek, 13 June 2025

In the second half of 2024, Hungary was the leader of the Presidency.
Images of flag: photo, photo

Zoltán Horváth, 9 April 2025

In addition to this flag, simpler versions were also in use, blue with the logo without any extras. It seems that they were made in two versions: 2:3 and 1:2: photo, photo, photo.

Tomislav Šipek, 13 June 2025

2025, Poland

Polish presidency of the European council, 2025 - images by Tomislav Šipek, 13 June 2025

Here are the flags of the Polish EU Presidency 2025: photo, photo, photo.

Tomislav Šipek, 13 June 2025