merrion street

Today (Tuesday 11 December) in Brussels, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore and Minister of State for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton, presented the work programme of the ‘Trio’ of EU Presidencies for the next 18 months.

Speaking at the presentation to EU Ministers at today’s General Affairs Council, the Tánaiste said

We must focus in the next 18 months on further restoring economic stability across Europe and building strong foundations for lasting economic growth and sustainable jobs.

We in the Irish Presidency, for our part, will prioritise those areas that can deliver tangible results for people across Europe, such as developing the Digital Agenda, tapping into the further potential of the EU Single Market, laying the groundwork for an EU-US Trade Agreement, and putting in place the Banking Union.

The Minister of State for European Affairs, Lucinda Creighton TD, said

Over the next 18 months we will work closely with our colleagues from Lithuania and Greece to make sure that we, as Presidencies, can deliver real and lasting results for our citizens. We will be building on the excellent work of the previous Trio of Poland, Denmark and Cyprus.

The Presidency Trio helps ensure greater continuity between the six month rotating Presidencies of the Council of the EU. Presidencies are organised into groups of three and plan the work of the Council over an 18-month period. Ireland is the first Presidency in the Trio with Lithuania (second half 2013) and Greece (first half 2014).

The Trio Programme presented in Brussels today looks at the main challenges facing the EU and maps out the priorities and agenda for the Council during the period 2013 until first half 2014. The Programme can be found here.

For photos and TV footage of the presentation see here.