Parliamentary Dimension of the Council Presidency

Parliamentary Dimension of the Council Presidency includes the cooperation of national parliaments of the EU Member States and the European Parliament within the scope of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union achieved through meetings and conferences of individual committees of the national parliaments and the European Parliament. 

The Presidency parliament organizes: i) the Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments (once a year in the national parliament of the member state which held the Presidency of the Council during the second semester of the previous year); ii) COSAC; iii) the Interparliamentary Conference for CFSP and CSDP); iv) the Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the European Union (in the first semester in the European Parliament in Brussel and in the second semester in the member state holding the Presidency of the Council); v) meeting of the JPSG (in the first semester in the member state holding the Presidency of the Council and in the second semester in the European Parliament in Brussel) and v) meetings of chairpersons of other competent committees, depending on the Presidency priorities and topics of interest of the national parliament of the member state holding Presidency. 

The Croatian Presidency of the Council from 1st January to 30th June 2020

Croatia was hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from January 1 to June 30, 2020, as the last member of the Trio it makes up with Romania (first half of 2019) and Finland (second half of 2019). 

The three Presidencies and the General Secretariat of the Council, the European External Action Service and the European Commission, in accordance with their competences, have prepared the 18-month Programme of the Council for the period from 1st January 2019 to 30th June 2020. EU Member States endorsed the Final Council's Programme at the General Affairs Council meeting on December 11, 2018. Based on this Programme, each of the Trio member states prepares a detailed programme for their respective six-month presidency.

Parliamentary dimension of the Croatian Presidency of the Council

During the Croatian Presidency of the Council from 1 January to 30 June 2020, the Croatian Parliament organized and chaired meetings within the framework of the parliamentary dimension of the Presidency. 

On 23 April 2018, in Tallinn, at the side-lines of the Conference of Speakers of the EU Parliaments, Gordan Jandroković, Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Liviu Dragnea and Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, Presidents of the Romanian House of Representatives and the Senate, and Paula Risikko, Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, signed a Declaration on Cooperation in the framework of the parliamentary dimension of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

They thereby declared their willingness to fully cooperate and provide mutual support in order to successfully prepare and implement the parliamentary dimension of their respective presidencies of the Council of the European Union. Furthermore, they undertake to ensure communication, coordination and information exchange, at both political and administrative level, with respect to events related to the parliamentary dimension of their Presidency of the Council of the European Union, including effective cooperation with the European Parliament.