Presidential Executive Council (Arab Union)

The Presidential Executive Council (Arabic: المجلس التنفيذي الرئاسي al-majlis at-tanfīdhī ar-ri’āsī) is an official body established by the 1999 constitution of the Arab Union, which functions as the institutional office of the President of the Arab Union. It is chaired by the Vice President of the Arab Union, who answers directly to the President and to whom all other members of the council answer. Under the country's federal semi-presidential system, the President of the Arab Union is officially head of state, while the position of head of government is officially held by other senior officials: the Prime Minister of the Arab Union at the federal level and the governors of each of the union's 20 republics (federated states). Nonetheless, significant executive authority is vested in the presidency, which the Presidential Executive Council exists to administer at the President's direction.

In addition to advising the President on and realising executive decisions, the Presidential Executive Council is responsible for supporting the President's various official functions. Council members include, in addition to the President and Vice President, the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, the Executive Clerk who drafts and officially issues presidential executive orders, several republican liaison officers (each liaising with a specific premier), the Chief of Staff of the Union Defence Forces (who routinely answers to the Minister of Defence but ultimately the presidency in the President's capacity as commander-in-chief), the Attorney General of the Arab Union, the chair of the National Police Authority, the chair of the Joint Security Committee, and several academics in various fields and other experts who advise the President (such as the director of the new COVID-19 Special Task Force, a committee of several doctors and other health officials, which is responsible for formulating, initiating, and managing the national response to the current COVID-19 pandemic).