“Who will represent France within the European Council?”

NInitially provided for in the Community Treaties but imagined and instituted by Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, reinforced by the Treaty of Lisbon (2009), the European Council has established itself as the centre of gravity of the institutional system of the European Union (EU). Its power has increased during the crises recently experienced by Europe, whether that of the Eurozone, the health crisis or the war in Ukraine.

So many episodes that required heavy decisions, adopted within tight deadlines, which the legitimacy of the European Council made possible. Often confused with the Council of the EU, which brings together representatives of ministerial rank, the institution in fact brings together the “heads of state or government”, i.e. the highest level of political responsibility that can exist within the Member States. However, the European treaties leave it to the latter to appoint their representatives, in accordance with their internal constitutional rules.

In accordance with the logic of their parliamentary regimes, states are most often represented by heads of government. This is the option chosen by Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland. Cases where the head of state, in this case a president, is appointed by the member state are exceptions. This is the choice of Cyprus, Lithuania and Romania, where the president, elected by direct universal suffrage, is granted powers in foreign policy by the Constitution. This is also the choice of France.

A two-headed representation

In a context of continuous transfer of competences from Member States to the Union, the European Council appears to be a key place for the exercise of presidential power. For Emmanuel Macron, who has placed Europe at the centre of his political project since 2017, presence at the European Council undoubtedly constitutes a crucial, if not existential, issue.

This participation of the French president is, however, based on shaky legal foundations. Initially intended to establish a genuine parliamentary regime, the 1958 Constitution does not clearly establish a role of representation on the international level for the benefit of the head of state. However, this role has been imposed, due to a presidentialist reading of the Constitution encouraged by the election of the president by direct universal suffrage following the referendum of 28 October 1962.

But this practice was interrupted during the three cohabitations that France has experienced since 1986. A compromise was then found between the head of state and the prime minister, which resulted in a two-headed representation at the meetings of the European Council. The two executive summits (Mitterrand-Chirac, Mitterrand-Balladur then Chirac-Jospin) then managed, not without certain tensions that remained discreet, to formulate a common expression there.

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