REPORT: EU± Portuguese and Czech Presidency of the EU Council

On December 15, the very last debate of 2020 from the series EU± took place. The debate was organized by the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy and the Department of European Studies of FSV UK. The topic of „Portuguese and Czech Presidency of the EU Council” was discussed by Ambassador of Portugal to the Czech Republic Luís de Almeida Sampaio, our Associate Research Fellow Zuzana Stuchlíková and former Permanent Representative to the EU Milena Vicenová. The debate took place in English and was charied by Tomáš Weiss, researcher, and head of the Department of European Studies FSV UK.

It is very important period to have and hold the presidency of the European Union, in a more technical way - the presidency of the Council of the EU. The presidency now is not exactly as it was or used to be before the Treaty of Lisbon came into force, we know that now there are particular differences which were established by the Treaty in 2007; yet, it is an important moment for a country because ii is a golden opportunity, an opportunity not to miss a moment to sensitize public opinion, especially younger generations to fulfilling the European project, fulfilling the European dream and especially it is very important for governments to void temptation of Brussels blaming when something goes wrong.

It is a fantastic opportunity to talk about the European project, to talk about values and to talk about the future besides, of course, talking about different priorities that every presidency has in the context of „trio“.

You can watch the whole debate HERE or you can read the report HERE. 

Zuzana Stuchlíková
Associate Research Fellow

Expertise: Central Europe, EU Institutions