A look back on the Irish EU Presidency

Last week marked the end of a very busy period for Ireland, as our six-month Presidency of the Council of the EU drew to a close. Since the beginning of the year, Ireland has hosted over 1,600 meetings where our presidency team have driven Ireland’s priorities for the EU in our programme for stability, jobs and growth.

Here in Brussels this policy work was lead by my colleague Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the EU Ambassador Rory Montgomery.  We at the Embassy played our part too including by leading on an ambitious Irish Presidency cultural programme with up to 20 events formally within the programme and as many again taking place outside the formal programme but with Embassy participation or support.

It is encouraging to look back at the milestone agreements achieved during the Irish Presidency. A more stable Europe with a sounder and safer financial system is within our grasp thanks to agreement on a Single Supervisory Mechanism for banks and a Capital Requirements Directive. Prospects for enhanced trade have increased with the EU-US trade talks mandate which has the potential to create 400,000 extra EU jobs over time, and the EU’s overall trade agenda has grown as we have steered negotiations with Japan and made progress with Canada in this area.

We have also furthered our goal of boosting jobs by supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (which account for 67% of total EU employment) by cutting red tape with Accounting and Transparency Directives and helping to solidify a special agreement for a €2 billion support fund to boost the competitiveness of SMEs.

Youth unemployment was also a key focus for the Irish Presidency, and a €6 billion Agreement on Youth Guarantee will provide a key step in addressing the EU youth unemployment crisis by ensuring young people under the age of 25 a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed.

In the last few days of the Presidency a string of agreements was concluded on many presidency files such as EU Common Agricultural Policy reform, banking resolution, Erasmus+, Horizon2020, and of course the European Union’s Multiannual Financial Framework, the €960bn seven year plan that regulates the EU’s annual budget where successful negotiations with the European Parliament lead to a shared vision of what the Budget parameters and conditions should be.

Across Europe, the Presidency has also given us the chance to share our vibrant culture, of which we are very proud, and we have used this time to celebrate and build on Ireland’s strong cultural connections in Belgium and Europe. In Belgium our programme ,which the  Embassy co-organized with Ireland’s Permanent Representation to the EU and Culture Ireland, has included visual arts, film and documentary screenings, music, dance, theatre, literature, and of course various art exhibitions, including the Francis Bacon and Contemporary Art exhibition in Bozar which attracted over 17,000 visitors in under three months.

I was delighted to attend the Dinner in the Sky restaurant in early June when Ireland was chosen as the theme country for the month to mark the conclusion of our EU Presidency.  The restaurant which is a platform suspended at 50 metres ensured that Ireland’s EU Presidency would quite literally end on a high.  Keeping with matters culinary, the month concluded  with the launch at the Embassy of the launch of the Tipperary Food Producers network website. The network brings together 30 artisan food producers from the county and their produce was truly a reflection of that county’s green and pure credentials.

This exciting programme of Presidency events has also extended to Ireland where we have hosted some 15,000 decision-makers, politicians, business leaders and media at over 180 events, including large-scale international business conferences. This has been a great pleasure for Ireland, as we got to do some of the things we are best known for, including welcoming visitors to our country.

It is however, with a sense of nostalgia that we see the presidency now. It did involve a lot of dedication and hard work on the part of all those involved, be it in Ireland’s Permanent Representation to the EU, here at the Irish Embassy or of course by our colleagues at Headquarters in Dublin. That said it was an opportunity for Ireland to again demonstrate our commitment to the European agenda and to highlight the competence of our public administration.  In passing the torch on to Lithuania we are glad to see that progress has been made in so many areas and we wish our colleagues well in what will be their first Presidency. 

Although Ireland’s Presidency is drawing to an end, 2013 will continue to be an important year for Ireland as we host The Gathering. This is a year-long programme of events where communities are inviting international visitors to come and experience the very best of Irish culture, tradition, business, sport, and the uniquely Irish sense of fun.