Ireland has assumed the presidency of the Council of the European Union for the eighth time. The Irish political and administrative system has been preparing for the presidency for more than a year.
Dublin regards the presidency as an opportunity to be at the heart of EU decision-making and to contribute constructively to the Union as a small member state.
The core activity takes place in Brussels and Luxembourg, where Ireland chairs approximately 180 Council working parties and committees. Consequently, Ireland's Permanent Representation has expanded its staffing capacity.
There is also an extensive program of meetings scheduled across Ireland, including 22 informal Council of Ministers meetings and around 250 conferences and stakeholder engagements. Ensuring the success of the six-month mandate will therefore require both political leadership and strong organizational capacity.
This article is part of The Parliament's "Guide to Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the EU."
A safe and effective presidency
The highest-profile events to be held in Ireland are an informal European Council and a European Political Community summit, which will bring up to 47 heads of state and government to Dublin. The latter will pose a significant organizational and security challenge.
Successive Irish governments have used the presidency to highlight the importance of EU membership to the country. As part of this effort, every Irish county has been paired with an EU member state to foster direct links between local communities and Ireland's partners across the Union.
The Irish presidency's priorities are organized around three pillars: competitiveness, values and security. On competitiveness, the focus is the "One Europe, One Market" roadmap, a package of measures designed to advance the recommendations of the reports by Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta.
The other major economic dossier is the European Council's commitment to conclude negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework by December 2026. Achieving that goal would be a major success for the Irish presidency, although the negotiations could well extend into 2027.
Ireland must make substantial progress on the MFF in any event, as these negotiations cover virtually every area of EU policy.
This is a difficult dossier. While Dublin has become a major net contributor to the EU budget on a per capita basis, it will also have to act as an honest broker between the frugal member states and those seeking higher levels of EU spending.
Values and security
The second headline priority of the presidency is values, with a particular emphasis on Article 2 of the Treaty on EU. There is a clear commitment to defending those principles both within Europe and globally. How that commitment can be reconciled with an increasingly challenging geopolitical environment is less clear.
The third priority is security, a persistent theme in the Union since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the return of U.S. President Donald Trump. Ireland had little choice but to include security among the priorities of its presidency, although its credibility in this area remains open to question.
Dublin spends just 0.4% of its gross national income on defense, the lowest share in the EU, although expenditure has increased in recent years. Its defense capabilities nevertheless remain limited. Moreover, the country's policy of military neutrality makes it difficult to lead on this agenda within the Union.
Ireland holds the presidency at a critical moment for the EU as it grapples with a large and complex agenda in an increasingly volatile world.
The Irish presidency's success will ultimately be measured by its ability to advance the Union's key priorities and leave the next presidency with a stronger foundation on which to build.
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