Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 January 2024
45. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs for an update on work being done to prepare for Ireland’s presidency of the EU in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3206/24]
View answerIreland will hold the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from July to December 2026. It will be Ireland’s eighth EU Presidency, our most recent term in the role having been in 2013. During the six-month Presidency, Ireland will be responsible for driving the EU policy agenda and advancing work on EU legislative and policy initiatives. Irish Ministers and officials will chair most meetings in the framework of the Council of Ministers, and will represent the Council in its relations with other EU institutions, notably the European Parliament.
Delivering a successful Presidency will require extensive preparatory work across Government and significant resources. The Government discussed our approach to the preparation of the Presidency in May 2023, and tasked my Department with taking forward both policy and operational planning for the Presidency, in consultation with the Department of the Taoiseach. Two new Inter-Departmental Groups, focused on policy and operational aspects of Presidency preparations respectively, have been established and are meeting regularly with participation from all Government Departments.
As was the case with our previous EU Presidencies, our policy priorities for the 2026 Presidency will reflect the areas in which we judge that Ireland can make the most significant and effective contribution to the advancement of a positive policy agenda for the Union and its citizens. Our Presidency policy programme will be developed against the backdrop of the EU’s Strategic Agenda for 2024-29, which is expected to be adopted by the European Council in June 2024, and will reflect also the range of legislative initiatives proposed by the new European Commission which will take office later this year.
The Irish EU Presidency will form the first part of an eighteen-month Trio Presidency also involving Lithuania (January to June 2027) and Greece (July to December 2027). We will work with our Trio partners to develop a Trio Presidency Programme to guide the work of the Council through the full eighteen-month period.
My Department is currently working with Departments across Government to plan the range of meetings and events to be hosted by Ireland during the Presidency, and to establish the resource requirements, including staffing needs, arising from the Presidency role. This work is being informed by consultations with other EU Member States which have recently held the Presidency and with the EU Institutions. The work of Ireland’s Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels will be central to the coordination and delivery of a successful Presidency, and the Permanent Representation will begin to be reinforced with additional staff from the summer of 2024.
The 2026 EU Presidency will be a major undertaking for Ireland, and will be a key focus for the work of the Government in the three years ahead. We have a proud record of success from our previous terms in the Presidency of the Council, and I am confident that we will again be able to make a significant and positive contribution to the EU through our Presidency in 2026.
