2 Euros Presidency European Union

Portugal held the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2021 — a term that coincided almost entirely with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccination coordination across member states, making it an unusually consequential six months for a role that is often procedural. The presidency rotates on a fixed schedule established by the Council itself, and commemorative €2 issues tied to it have become a near-automatic tradition among member states since the format was first used by Greece in 2003.