mseap

NEWS

Board View
SUBJECT [Jan 7] Croatia takes over the EU Council Presidency
DATE 2020-01-07
DOWNLOAD

PHOTO: EP. Croatia takes over the EU Council Presidency,

 

As of January 1, Croatia is in charge of the Council Presidency for the first half of year 2020. As a result, Croatia will preside over the Council of EU meetings, where EU laws and policies are discussed and budget programme is adopted, together with the European Parliament.

 

Several Croatian MEPs have shown their hopes and concerns about the presidency. On one hand, Croatia could see this as an opportunity to show its capacity within and outside the EU. On the other hand, reaching an agreement on EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027 could be a tough task.

 

Being the youngest of the EU member states, Croatia joined the European Union in July, 2013, as part of the European Enlargement. “Croatia needs to act as a neutral mediator and ensure successful cooperation and continuous implementation of the [EU’s] programme“, said MEP Valter Flego (Renew Europe). He also believes that Croatia could “directly show to its people what Europe does for them“ during the presidency.

 

The Council Presidency was previously held by Romania (Jan-Jun) and Finland (Jul-Dec) last year. Germany will take over the latter half of 2020.

 

 

[Sources]

EP. (2020, January 3) Croatian Council presidency: what MEPs expect. Retrieved from (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/eu-affairs/20191127STO67508/croatian-council-presidency-what-meps-expect)

 

EU2020HR. Presidency and Croatia. Retrieved from (https://eu2020.hr/Home/Custom?code=CroatiaEU)

 

BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)