EU2008

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. In the first half of 2008, Slovenia holds the Presidency for the first time, as the first of the twelve “new” member states that joined the EU in the 2004 and 2007 enlargements to do so. Slovenia’s Presidency follows its Trio partners Germany and Portugal. The next Trio consists of France, Czech Republic and Sweden.