What is the ‘troika’?

If you look up the word ‘troika’ in a dictionary, it will say that a troika can be a Russian sledge drawn by three horses abreast or that the word can be used to describe a leadership comprising three persons.

In an EU context the word is used to refer to several concepts involving a special form of cooperation between three countries: the country holding the Presidency, the country which has just held the Presidency and the country which will next hold the Presidency. The Secretary-General of the Council and the Commission also participate.

The classic troika

In the EU context ‘troika’ originally referred to the trinity comprising the Member State holding the Presidency of the Council, the Member State which had held the Presidency in the previous six months and the Member State which would be holding the Presidency in the next six months. The troika is assisted by the Commission.

The Common Foreign and Security Policy troika

The Treaty of Amsterdam (which entered into force on 1 May 1999) introduced a variant of the troika model intended to represent the EU vis-à-vis countries outside the EU in connection with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. In this variant the troika comprises the country holding the Presidency, the country which will next hold the Presidency and the Secretary-General of the Council in his role as the EU’s foreign policy representative and the troika is assisted by the Commission.

A modified form of the troika model is also used in the areas of social and labour policy, economics and finance, and cooperation in judicial and police matters

The aim of troika cooperation is to ensure a certain continuity in the Council work and to avoid excessive disruption to this as a result of the Presidency of the Council rotating every six months.