The French presidency of the EU starts in a month. The calendar

(B2) It has been fourteen years since France last held the presidency of the European Union. The last one dates back to 2008. The next presidency is not expected before 2035! This shows the importance of the event, the PFUE in good Brussels jargon.
The presidency of the Councils
To be exact, France will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union (and not of all institutions, such as the European Commission or the European Parliament). Or rather some advice. Because the Councils of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense or Development continue to be chaired by the High Representative of the European Union, the Spaniard Josep Borrell (and not by Jean-Yves le Drian or Florence Parly). The Eurogroup remains chaired by the Irishman Paschal Donohoe. And the European Council, the supreme body which brings together heads of state and government two or three times per semester, by the Belgian Charles Michel.
A certain co-presidency
In practice, the rotating presidency manages to get its priorities across. " Especially if it's France », as confided by an internal source. This will be all the easier since Josep Borrell, Paschal Donohoe and Charles Michel are quite close, either ideologically or personally, to their French counterparts. Charles Michel is part of the same generation of liberal leaders as Emmanuel Macron. Josep Borrell and Jean-Yves Le Drian belong to another generation, more social democratic, but they esteem each other and have known each other personally for decades. We can therefore speak of a co-presidency.
Close to the European Commission
The President of the European Commission, the German Ursula von der Leyen, maintains direct relations with the Élysée. While the French commissioner Thierry Breton acts in very close tandem with the French government. Returning to Paris every weekend, not only does he tour French radio and television sets, but he meets all his French contacts as regularly as possible. He was again this weekend (November 27-28) in Rennes alongside J.-Y. Le Drian to visit the cyberdefense factory. An excuse more than a necessity. Its weight within the Berlaymont (the European Commission building in Brussels) has increased over the course of the Covid-19 crisis. To the point that even if he does not have the title, we can say that he is one of the vice-presidents of the institution.
The real presidency
The presidency of the Councils of Ministers is only the tip of the iceberg. The real work at European level takes place upstream, in the nearly 150 groups and committees which prepare the meetings, from the most discreet (like the famous SCIFA which deals with questions of asylum and immigration), to the most famous and publicized, the committee of permanent representatives. This Coreper (in the common name) brings together the heads of the missions of the 27 Member States present in Brussels. A fairly select club of ambassadors. Its main body is Coreper 2, which deals with 'sovereign' matters (foreign affairs, justice and home affairs, economy and the euro). While Coreper 1 (which brings together the deputy permanent representatives) is in charge of 'real' matters, those which concern the 'internal' life of the European Union (Agriculture, Fisheries, Culture, Education, Space, Environment, Energy, Transport, etc.).
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
The calendar
The official agenda should only be revealed at the time of the last European Council of the year, on December 16-17. For our readers, here it is in preview. All dates synthesized by B2.