Dossier written by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Lionel Changeur
I. INTRODUCTION
Following the Republic of Cyprus, it was another island which took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2013. For its seventh Presidency, Ireland is the first country under financial assistance to take on this role. But there is no chance that the former 'Celtic Tiger', whose efforts to improve its financial situation have been greatly praised, will make a weakness of its difficulties. Quite the contrary; the coalition government of the country, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of its accession to the EU on 1 January, wishes to put Ireland's experiences at the service of the EU. As with the most recent Presidencies and the two others of the trio - Lithuania in the second half of 2013 and then Greece for the following six months in 2014 - the Irish Presidency wishes to lay emphasis above all on stability, growth and employment.
Eire (4.5 million inhabitants) also intends to coincide national priorities and European priorities. It wishes to centre its efforts on the single market, particularly the digital economy, as the country is home to a number of internet companies. The setting in place of banking union, in particular single banking supervision, will also be an Irish priority. A country which looks beyond its own shores, Eire is also keen for the EU to make progress on trade agreements with its strategic partners, particularly the United States. But the toughest task of the Irish Presidency will be to help the EU to adopt a multi-annual financial framework (MAFF) for 2014-2020 and the related legislative texts, including cohesion policy and the common agriculture policy (CAP).
Ireland could be the first of the countries under the financial support of the EU and the IMF to bring its head above the water. Its three-year short-term assistance programme will run until the end of 2013. Ireland hopes to make a full return to the financial markets in the second half of 2013. It has also started to refinance its public debt by issuing short-term debt instruments. Furthermore, Dublin will seek to secure from its EU partners and the European Commission relief concerning its bank debt (a total of 64 billion euros in total, due to the aid paid out by the country during the banking crisis). Since 2008, this national bank debt has weighed heavily on the public purse (40% of Ireland's total debt!). "The Irish government is looking for ways of better dealing with its bank debt, which is fairly substantial", an Irish Presidency source confirmed. The country is looking into "various options" on how to proceed (such as a retroactive recapitalisation of the Irish banks). For 2013, Irish public deficit has been estimated at 7.5% of GDP (8.4% in 2012) and the debt is expected to culminate at 122.5% (117.6% in 2012), according to the economic forecasts of autumn 2012 of the European Commission. The economic situation is a difficult one in Ireland. The Commission forecasts slight growth, in the order of 1.1%, in 2013, and then of 2.2% in 2014.
II. INTERVIEW WITH LUCINDA CREIGHTON, MINISTER FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
Agence Europe (AE) -You are the first country under financial assistance to take on the Presidency of the EU. Will this have any effect on your Presidency? How might your experience on a return to growth help the EU to follow suit?
Lucinda Creighton (LC) - I feel that this is a great opportunity. Of course, this will be a challenge compared to our last Presidency, in 2004. We are in a much tougher economic situation. But this has been reflected in the last few Presidencies. The Danish called their Presidency "the tap water presidency". I feel that Ireland's will be along similar lines.
But this is also an excellent opportunity to show Ireland, the rest of the European Union and the world, that a country under a rescue programme can recover, can manage the European agenda and do good work to carry off a pragmatic and effective Presidency. Ireland has gone through some very tough times, but I feel that we are very much on the right track. Our economy is headed for growth, with many positive signs as regards our economic prospects, and I hope that these (positive elements) will be more a source of inspiration than of interference during our Presidency.
(AE) One of your main challenges will be the multi-annual financial framework (MAFF). How do you see the subsequent course of the negotiations? How do you envisage your work with the European Parliament once the agreement has been concluded at the Council?
(LC) We plan to work closely with the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and his team, to help to move the process forward. We hope that it will be possible to put the dossier on the multi-annual financial framework before the Heads of State and Government early on in our Presidency.
We are already very much engaged with the European Parliament on the subject of the MAFF. I have met all of the rapporteurs and coordinators of the committee on budgets, many times. We have a good relationship. I hope and believe that it will be possible to reach an agreement with the Parliament on the MAFF once an agreement has been reached at the Council.
It will then be our job to make progress with all of the legislative measures required to implement the multi-annual financial framework from 2014. We have already done a great deal of work with all of the sectorial committees of the EP to reconcile the positions of the Council and the Parliament. On one of the key dossiers, such as the common agriculture policy (CAP), I believe that there is every chance for us to be able to conclude the negotiations with the European Parliament by the end of our Presidency. This would be excellent progress, but it will of course depend on the contents of the MAFF.
(AE) You mentioned the CAP. Do you also believe that you will reach an agreement on cohesion?
(LC) First of all, we have to obtain a line of financing both for the CAP and the cohesion policy, the EU's two main instruments of action. It is a positive signal that an agreement in principle was reached between the Member States at the November Summit for these two policies to be protected and safeguarded to a certain degree. From our point of view, this is highly important progress and if an agreement in principle holds, then we will be in a position to make fairly rapid progress under the Irish Presidency.
We can act as an honest intermediary, because we are not the main beneficiary of cohesion. We are genuinely aware of the importance of cohesion as a country which has benefited from it since we joined the EU and I believe that the cohesion policy has been extremely important in the development of the Irish economy over the last decades.
We aim to work closely with the European Parliament to agree on a "package", and we hope to do so before the end of our Presidency.
(AE) Is the Connecting Europe Facility another of your priorities?
(LC) The Connecting Europe Facility is of course important in ensuring that we have the infrastructure, particularly in the areas of communication and broadband. It is likely that the figure mentioned in the initial proposal of the Commission on the multi-annual financial framework will not be agreed upon, that it will not be as high as the Commission and many Member States might have hoped. But we will have to wait for the results of the negotiations. This is a priority of the Irish Presidency.
(AE) Your Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, said that your Presidency will play its full role in a Union which is rebuilding itself and which wishes to restore growth and employment. What are your priorities in these areas?
(LC) Every configuration of the Council will focus on growth during the Irish Presidency. We will try to be creative and innovative in this field.
For us, the single market contains the greatest growth potential. We have a raft of proposals on Act I of the single market. Only one of the 12 proposals has been fully adopted, which means that there is much work still to be done with the other 11. We will also start work on the elements of Act II which relate to the single market, published in October. For example, we can see the potential to conclude the negotiations on the directive on professional qualifications. The package on public procurement has made good progress under the Cypriot Presidency.
We will also be laying emphasis on the implementation of the single digital market. There is a long road ahead if we wish to implement this. We will give priority, amongst other things, to the electronic signature and data protection. We will try to move forward on all of these proposals in order to improve the development potential of the EU in this field.
(AE) What do you plan to do on economic governance, banking union and the European semester?
(LC) That's a lot of things. First of all, the European semester is in its infancy. There are lessons which can be learned from the experiences of last year and the year before. We hope to see a more active commitment, for example on the part of the European Parliament and the national parliaments. And there will be serious proposals to take into consideration within the various stakeholders (Council, European Parliament and Commission) on how to manage this process. Banking union is a huge priority for the Irish Presidency (…). We wish to move forward and to ensure that the single supervision mechanism is in place over the course of 2013, and I imagine that we will set in place the basic elements to ensure that this is done. And, of course, there are other elements within banking union on which we hope to be able to make progress: deposit system at European level, resolution mechanism for bank failure. All of these things come into play, but the first stage is the single supervision mechanism.
(AE) Ireland would like a more open Europe and to reinforce commercial links with third countries. Why, and what are your priorities in terms of international trade?
(LC) The EU needs to benefit from the process of globalisation. We have seen growth slow down in recent years, we need to find new ways to give it a shot in the arm. Trade with other regions, particularly the emerging regions, has the potential to breathe new life into the European economy.
We are in the process of concluding a trade agreement with Canada. We hope that we will be able to make progress in the one with Japan. The main priority will be a trade agreement with the United States which, we believe, has the potential significantly to contribute to the GDP of the EU and the US. This will be a central subject on the agenda of the informal ministerial meeting on trade to take place in Dublin in April. We hope that by the end of the Irish Presidency, we will have achieved a negotiation mandate to move forward talks with the United States.
(AE) What does the Irish Presidency intend to do for the programme Horizon2020? Is this also a priority?
(LC) This is a programme which is highly ambitious in its scope and objectives. The money which is earmarked for the seventh framework programme and the other programmes linked to it will be more or less doubled in comparison to the current MAFF, which therefore represents a substantial increase. This shows that the EU is focusing more on innovation and research and development. This is an extremely important tool in order to be competitive, to have added value when it comes to our approach to economic growth and to ensure that we are useful to the global economy in the future. Therefore, this is really very important. It is important for businesses, foreign investment, universities, enterprise.
This has enormous potential and an enormous impact throughout the EU. It is this kind of growth instrument which is needed, as are the traditional policies of cohesion and the CAP. I am very much in favour of the Commission's proposal and we will not hesitate to give priority to Horizon 2020 during our Presidency.
(AE) What are your priorities in terms of justice and home affairs? Will the revision of the asylum policy be completed under your Presidency?
(LC) We hope so, and it will be a priority for us. It may be hard to reach a consensus between the Member States, but our Minister is very much determined to make significant progress under the Irish Presidency on the asylum policy. I believe that this will be our central issue in the field of justice and home affairs. I also mentioned data protection. The question of criminal assets will also be on the agenda of January's informal meeting.
(AE) As regards enlargement and the neighbourhood policy, what are your ambitions?
(LC) We intend to open at least one chapter with Turkey. This will of course require certain chapters to be unblocked. We believe that there is potential for this to happen. It is important, particularly against the backdrop of events in the Middle East and North Africa, for a certain amount of momentum to be brought into the process with Turkey. This has been shelved for too long. And this will therefore be a priority for us.
We hope that we will be able to set a date for accession negotiations with Serbia and to move forward on the issue of Macedonia. We also intend to open all significant chapters with Iceland, with the possible exception of the chapters on agriculture and fisheries.
As regards the Eastern partnership, we hope that we will be able to initiate a stabilisation and association agreement with Moldova by the end of the Irish Presidency, with a view to a full signature at the Eastern partnership summit (late November 2013). This will be an important issue for us.
III. BANKING UNION, STABILITY, EMPLOYMENT, GROWTH
The number one priority in the field of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN Council) is to make progress on banking union, particularly by finalising negotiations with the EP on the single supervisor under the aegis of the European Central Bank (ECB) and by pushing forward the work on the national guarantee systems for deposits at European level and on the bank resolution recovery scheme. The Irish Presidency hopes to be able to conclude the Council's work on the single supervisor by the end of March and the work with the EP by the end of June, in line with the conclusions of the European Council. The Irish Presidency sees progress in banking union as vital for the stability of the eurozone and of national interest to Dublin. A further priority is the capital requirements directive.
The provisional timetable for the six-month period schedules discussions at the ECOFIN Council of 22 January on the following issues: political agreement on the second economic governance package (“Two Pack”), financial transactions tax (reinforced cooperation in which Ireland is not planning to take part). The timetable also provides for a stock take on the work on the single supervision mechanism (banks) on 12 February. In March, the agenda gets a bit busier, with the objective of the general approach to the proposal establishing a resolution framework for the banking institutions and a stock take on the “deposit guarantee” directive. The European semester 2013 features on the agenda of the ECOFIN Councils of January, February, March and June (contributions to the European Council). The June ECOFIN Council (21) is expected to reach a political agreement on the energy taxation directive and to take stock on the single supervision mechanism (stock take on its implementation).
The first of the Union's priorities is to boost job-creating growth, according to the Irish Presidency in its document laying out its priorities. However, growth can only develop if it is based on economic stability. It is for this reason that the Irish Presidency will work effectively to implement the Union's new economic governance measures, and in particular the European semester. This process will allow the member states and the European Union as a whole to carry out reforms and create the conditions required for growth.
Amongst other things, Ireland has its sights set on the very high youth unemployment rate, and wishes to make progress with the examination of the proposals on the “European guarantee for youth”. This aims to prevent young people from remaining unemployed for more than four months at a time. The youth unemployment rate is 29% in Ireland, 58% in Greece and 50% in Spain. Ireland is hoping that rolling out best practice will help to stem this plague.
Ireland grants a high degree of priority to the measures included in the Acts for the single market. The Irish Presidency is planning to lay emphasis on the reinforcement of the digital economy in Europe by promoting measures in the fields of cyber-security, identification and electronic signatures, data protection and the roll-out of high-speed broadband networks and internet accessability. The Connecting Europe Facility is able to provide coordinated infrastructures in the fields of energy, transport and telecommunications, "which we need for future growth".
The Irish Presidency is planning to take a series of measures aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the "backbone of the European economy", to include better access to credit, better access to public procurement contract opportunities and the funding of research.
The Irish Presidency awaits with interest the launch, in Dublin on 10 January 2013, of the European Year of Citizens.
IV. FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK 2014-2020: VAN ROMPUY AT THE HELM
According to the Irish Presidency, it is mainly the job of President Van Rompuy to decide on the next step in negotiations on the multi-annual financial framework, as "the dossier has reached his level and will remain there". "We are ready to deal with him in any way possible, but it is very much his issue to deal with", an Irish source stated. Once an agreement has been concluded, the Presidency will have a major role to play in securing the whole agreement and the resulting sectorial policies. There is a European Council scheduled for early February, and we will have to wait for the next few weeks for the judgement of the President of the European Council on when he plans to put this dossier before the EU leaders. Ireland is of the opinion that at the European Council of November, good progress was made on the multi-annual financial framework 2014-2020 and that the EU was "close to a final agreement". It will be up to Mr Van Rompuy to consider whether or not he intends to produce a new compromise document or to start work on the basis of the last text on the table in November.
The Irish Presidency hopes to guide the Council to a political agreement in June on the reform of the CAP. According to its provisional timetable, it hopes that the General Affairs Council of 4 February will reach a partial general approach on the legislative package on the cohesion policy.
V. LOOKING OUTWARDS AS WELL
The Irish Presidency also plans to lay emphasis on external action. Dublin is of the opinion that economic recovery cannot be achieved in isolation and that the EU needs to be an effective partner on the global scene.
Developing trade agreements with strategic partners. An extremely outward-looking country, Eire would like to develop the EU's external trade. The Irish Presidency takes the view that this could help to get economic growth started again with "a win-win commitment with its partners". Ireland wishes to reinforce trade relations and open up new markets with third countries, particularly the emerging regions.
With the EU having just signed the free-trade agreement with Singapore and with work underway to put the finishing touches to another with Canada, the Irish Presidency, along with the two others of the trio (Lithuania and Greece), wishes to push forward the commercial and investment agreements with the EU's principal trade partners - the United States, Japan, India, China, Canada, Russia and Brazil - both bilaterally and multilaterally. Eire wishes to make progress in the negotiations with Japan for which the Commission has been given a mandate. But it also prioritises an association agreement with the United States. Ireland hopes that by the end of its Presidency, the Commission will have received a mandate to negotiate this agreement. But it will not be easy to reach, because a number of areas are sensitive. Europe has a problem with agriculture, whereas the United States has concerns with public procurement and regulatory alignment. According to the minister for foreign affairs and trade, Eamon Gilmore, free-trade agreements with Japan, Singapore, Canada and the United States would help to improve European growth by 2%. The trio of Presidency is also thinking of negotiations for a bilateral investment agreement with China.
As evidence of the importance of external trade, an informal Council, scheduled for 17 and 18 May 2013, will focus on this issue, particularly the agreement with the United States. The Foreign Affairs and Trade Council of June 2013 will revisit the issue.
Relaunching enlargement with Turkey. The Irish Presidency is also focusing on enlargement. Stressing that under its last Presidency in 2004, 10 countries joined the EU, the Irish Minister for European Affairs, Lucinda Creighton, wishes to "inject a new dynamic" into the enlargement process. "There is a golden opportunity to make progress", she explained, with particular reference to the Balkans. "We wish to engage with the candidate countries, the countries aspiring (to become candidates) to relaunch the process", she added.
Eire hopes to move forward as regards a date for opening negotiations with Serbia and also hopes for progress with Macedonia (FYROM). In the spring, the European Commission is to present reports on progress made by Serbia and Macedonia, with a view to the opening of accession negotiations, and a report on Kosovo, with a view to negotiating an association and stabilisation agreement.
As a priority, Dublin wishes to relaunch negotiations with Turkey, with relations between Ankara and the Presidency of the EU having been frozen under the Cypriot Presidency. Ireland would like to see at least one chapter opened under its Presidency. But in order for this to be done, chapters must be unblocked by the Member States. Lucinda Creighton believes that there is "potential" for this unblocking. In the view of the Minister for European Affairs, as a result of the events of the Arab Spring, it would be useful to give new impetus to the accession process of Turkey, which has been "frozen for too long". Ireland also wishes to make progress on visa policy towards Ankara.
Dublin aims to open all of the accession negotiation chapters with its Icelandic neighbour, with the exception of the most sensitive ones on agriculture and fisheries. The enlargement process and the process of the association and stabilisation agreements will be on the agenda of the General Affairs Council of 23 April and 25 June, in Luxembourg.
Moving forward with the Eastern and Mediterranean neighbourhoods. Ireland, which is geographically remote from the eastern and Mediterranean neighbours of the EU, intends to work on the two areas.
As regards the Eastern Partnership, the Presidency wishes to make progress with Moldova, to conclude an association and stabilisation agreement, including a full and in-depth free-trade area, before the end of June, so that it can be signed at the Eastern Partnership summit, under the Lithuanian Presidency, at the end of November 2013. In the view of Irish Ambassador Rory Montgomery, although Ukraine is an important and significant partner and Eire wants the full and in-depth free-trade area to be set in place as soon as possible, Kiev needs to make progress on a number of issues highlighted by the EU. More generally, the Irish, Lithuanian and Greek Presidencies would like the Council, on the basis of the roadmap, to work to reinforce the political association and to shore up economic integration with the countries of the Eastern Partnership. The trio considers the finalisation of negotiations on full and in-depth free-trade areas with Georgia and Armenia, as well as Moldova, as a priority.
In their joint programme, Ireland, Lithuanian and Greece state that the Council will also pursue its work on support for democratic transition and the socio-economic development of its neighbours of the southern Mediterranean with, amongst other things, a reinforcement of the Union for the Mediterranean, with an emphasis on concrete projects. The southern neighbourhood is on the agenda of all of the Foreign Affairs Councils under the Irish Presidency. The ministers are expected to return to the process of peace in the Middle East in January, March and May 2013.
Spotlight on development. Ireland also intends to support the work of the High Representative of the EU, Catherine Ashton, on shoring up relations with the neighbours of the EU. The trio believes that the EU must continue to work for stability and prosperity throughout the world. The Irish Presidency, along with the other two of the trio, wishes to lay emphasis on development, humanitarian policy and, in particular, on the food crisis and climate change. Dublin plans to focus on examining the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and internal preparations for talks on the global development agenda post-2015, to ensure the consistency of the European position within this process. Ireland will also work to boost EU-UN relations, particularly in the field of crisis management and peace support operations.
VI. ACHIEVING AGRICULTURAL AND FISHERY REFORMS, IF POSSIBLE
During the first half of 2013, the Irish Presidency has set itself the ambition of leading the Council to a political agreement by the end of June on the reform of the common agriculture policy (CAP) and also on the reform of the common fisheries policy (CFP). However, the Presidency is remaining cautious, because the agreement on the reform of the CAP will naturally depend on the results of the European Council of early February, which will seek to reach a compromise on the multi-annual financial framework 2014-2020. "The top priority will be CAP reform. The Irish Presidency will aim to progress these reforms as far as possible", one source told us. The Presidency is seeking a result on this reform which will guarantee a sustainable intensification of production, environmental stewardship and maintenance of a vibrant rural economy.
Dublin and the two subsequent Presidencies of the EU - Lithuania and then Greece - also state, in a joint document, that they wish to "finalise the reforms of the CAP and the common fisheries policy", once the financial framework of the Union for the next seven years has been agreed upon.
According to Ireland's Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney, it will be difficult to conclude the CAP reform by the end of June. In the event of failure to do so, the situation will then become more delicate due to the elections in Germany and Austria, and then the new European Commission taking up its duties in 2014.
On 28 January, the president-in-exercise of the Agriculture Council will present his EU colleagues with his work programme for the semester. The reform of the CAP - direct payments, common single market organisation, financial regulation, rural development - will be on the agenda of this first ministerial session of the year, and of those of 25 and 26 February, 18 and 19 March, 22 and 23 April (in Luxembourg) and 13 and 14 May, in the hope of reaching a political agreement on 25 and 26 June (in Luxembourg).
The March Agriculture Council will also be given over to the European Commission's presentation of proposed revisions of the legislation on animal health, plant health, the sale and production of seeds and reproductive material, official checks in these areas and expenditure for food safety. A stock-take of the work on these dossiers is scheduled for June.
In May, the Commission is also expected to present the Council with a communication for a "new forestry strategy".
Lastly, the traditional informal meeting of the agriculture ministers will be held in Ireland (Dublin) from 26 to 28 May.
In parallel to the negotiations on CAP reform, the Council will continue its work on bringing agricultural legislation into line with the Treaty of Lisbon. According to the document of the three Presidencies, it also plans to "examine and, if necessary, refine the results of the previous sectorial reforms of the CAP". In this context, it "awaits with interest the Commission's evaluation of the reforms of 2007-2008 of fruits and vegetables and wine and the examination of all legislative proposals the Commission deems necessary".
Also on the agenda of the three Presidencies for the period from 1 January 2013 to 30 June 2014: promotion policy for agricultural products, proposals expected in 2013 on organic farming, legislation on animal health and legislation in the phytosanitary domain, but also a proposal on cloning for food production anticipated in light of the Commission's 2010 report which stressed, amongst other things, the need to take account of concerns for animal welfare related to the practice of cloning.
On fisheries, the Irish Presidency welcomes progress made under the Cypriot Presidency on the reform of the CFP (partial general approach on the basic regulation, common market organisation and European Fisheries Fund), and hopes to be able to lead the ministers to a political agreement on these three texts at the Council to be held in Luxembourg on 24 and 25 June. Amongst the other subjects on the agenda as regards fisheries policy are the state of play with EU/Morocco negotiations on a new bilateral fisheries agreement (end of February) and (late April) guidelines on aquaculture.
As regards public health, the Presidency is capitalising on a potential general approach regarding the new directive on tobacco products.
For their part, the Environment and Energy Ministers of the EU will have to debate amendments to be made to the directives on renewable energy and the quality of petrol and diesel in March and June. The Environment Ministers of the EU are also to discuss a proposal on access to genetic resources and a fair and equal way of sharing out the benefits arising from their use within the Union.
TIMETABLE OF THE SIX MONTHS UNDER IRISH PRESIDENCY (January-June 2013)
January
14-17 Plenary session of the European Parliament (Strasbourg)
15 "Feed the planet in 2050" conference
17-18 Informal meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Ministers of the EU (Dublin)
20 Informal meeting of the Ministers for European Affairs (Dublin)
21 Eurogroup (Brussels)
22 "Economic and Financial Affairs"(ECOFIN) Council (Brussels)
28 Informal meeting of the Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA) (Dublin)
28-29 "Agriculture and Fisheries" Council (Brussels)
30 Conference on higher education (Dublin)
31 "Foreign Affairs" Council (FAC) (Brussels)
February
1 Seminar on defence (Dublin)
4 "General Affairs" Council (GAC) (Brussels)
4-7 Plenary of the European Parliament (Strasbourg)
6-8 Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) - Bilateral meetings between the senior officials of the European Union and of the United States (Farmleigh-Dublin)
7-8 Informal EPSCO (Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs) meeting (Dublin)
7-8 European Council (Brussels)
11 Eurogroup (Brussels)
12 "Economic and Financial Affairs" (ECOFIN) Council (Brussels)
14-15 Conference of the bio-economy stakeholders (Dublin)
15 "Education, Youth, Culture and Sport" (EYCS) Council (Brussels)
18 "Foreign Affairs" Council (FAC) (Brussels)
18-19 "Competitiveness" (COMPET) Council (Brussels)
18-19 Conference on "The professional identity of teacher trainers" (Dublin)
21-22 Informal meeting of the Defence Ministers (Dublin)
22 "Transport, Telecommunications and Energy" (TTE energy) Council (Brussels)
25-26 "Agriculture and Fisheries" (AGRI) Council (Brussels)
28 143rd meeting of the bureau of the Committee of the Regions (Kilmainham-Dublin)
28 "Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Protection" (EPSCO) Council (Brussels)
March
4 Eurogroup (Brussels)
4-5 Informal meeting of the Ministers for Health (Dublin)
5 ECOFIN Council (Brussels)
6-7 Communications forum of the European Food Safety Authority (Dublin)
7 Conference on sport (Dublin)
7-8 Social Protection Committee (Dublin)
7-8 Informal meeting of the Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) (Brussels)
11 "General Affairs" Council (GAC) (Brussels)
11 "Foreign Affairs" Council (FAC) (Brussels)
11-14 Plenary of the European Parliament (Strasbourg)
11 "Transport, Telecommunications and Energy" (TTE) Council (Brussels)
11-12 Informal meeting of the Employment Committee (EMCO) (Dublin)
13-14 Informal External Relations meeting (Dublin)
14-15 European Council (Brussels)
18-19 Agriculture and Fisheries Council (Brussels)
19-20 Conference on best practice in controls and evaluations to improve teaching and learning (Dublin)
21 Environment Council (Brussels)
22-23 GYMNICH (informal meeting of the Foreign Affairs Ministers) (Dublin)
23-24 Informal meeting of the Energy Ministers (Dublin)
24-26 Inter-Parliamentary conference on Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) (Dublin)
28 International conference on road safety (RSA) (Dublin)
April
4 "Humanitarian Aid and Food Aid" group (COHAFA) (Farmleigh-Dublin)
8-9 Meeting of the national "Drugs" coordinators (Dublin)
11-12 Expert group on radiocommunications (RCEG) (Dublin)
11-14 Informal European meetings on theatre (place to be determined)
12-13 Eurogroup (Dublin)
12-13 Informal meeting of the ECOFIN ministers (Dublin)
15-16 High-level event on famine, food and climate justice (Dublin)
15-18 Plenary of the European Parliament (Strasbourg)
16-18 Meeting of the Chief Veterinary Officers (CVO) (Dublin)
17-18 "Human Rights" group (COHOM) (Farmleigh- Dublin)
17-18 Informal meeting of the Trade Ministers (EU/United States) (Dublin)
18 Round table of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) (Dublin)
22 "Foreign Affairs" Council (FAC) (Luxembourg)
22-23 Informal meeting of the Ministers for the Environment (Dublin)
22-23 "Agriculture and Fisheries" Council (Luxembourg)
23 "General Affairs" Council (GAC) (Luxembourg)
25 Conference on tourism (Dublin)
25 Informal meeting of the Budgetary Committee of the Council (Dublin)
29-30 Conference on gender equality and the strategy EUROPE 2020 (Dublin)
May
1-3 Informal meeting of the "Competitiveness" Council (Dublin)
7-8 SET-plan conference (Kilmainham- Dublin)
7-8 Targeted meeting of the European Food Safety Authority (Dublin)
9 Europe Day Conference (Dublin)
9-10 Meeting of the representatives of the Court of Justice of the EU (Dublin)
13-14 Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) - Bilateral meetings between the ministers of the European Union and the United States (Farmleigh)
13-14 "Agriculture and Fisheries" Council (Brussels)
13-14 High-level conference on e-health (Dublin)
13 Eurogroup (Brussels)
14 ECOFIN Council (Brussels)
14-15 Careers and mobility of researchers (Dublin)
15-17 European platform for research in biodiversity (Dublin)
15-17 Camden network of competent authorities for the recovery of assets (CARIN) (bureau of criminal assets) (Kilmainham-Dublin)
16-17 Third International Congress on plantation forests (Dublin)
16-17 "Education, Youth, Culture and Sport" Council (EYCS) (Brussels)
16-17 Conference on European company law and corporate governance (Dublin)
20-21 Meeting of fisheries directors (Cork)
20-23 Plenary of the European Parliament (Strasbourg)
22-23 Conference of the European Social Fund (Loughlinstown)
22-23 Meeting of the group of senior officials of the civil protection directors (Dublin)
22-23 "Competitiveness" (COMPET) Council (Brussels)
22 European Council (Brussels)
24 Conference on competition and consumers in Europe (Dublin)
26-28 Informal meeting of the Ministers for Agriculture (Dublin)
27 "Foreign Affairs" Council (FAC) Development (Brussels)
28-29 Committee tasked with civil aspects of crisis management (Farmleigh-Dublin)
28 "General Affairs" Council (CAG)
28-29 Conference on the driving forces behind competitiveness and sustainability (Dublin)
30 Group of senior officials of the water and marine environment directors (Dublin)
June
5-7 Week of Innovative Regions in Europe (WIRE IV) (Cork)
6-7 Informal meeting of the Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) (Brussels)
6 "Transport, Telecommunications and Energy" (TTE telecommunications) Council (Luxembourg)
7 "Transport, Telecommunications and Energy" (TTE energy) Council (Luxembourg)
10 "Transport, Telecommunications and Energy" (TTE transport) Council (Luxembourg)
10-12 Conference on the European SMEs (Dublin)
10-13 Plenary of the European Parliament (Strasbourg)
13-14 Formal meeting of the education committee (Kilmainham- Dublin)
13-14 European Research Area Committee (ERAC) (Dublin)
18 "Foreign Affairs" Council (FAC) trade (Luxembourg)
18 "Environment" Council (Luxembourg)
19-20 Strategic digital assembly (SDA) (Dublin)
20 Eurogroup (Luxembourg)
21 ECOFIN Council (Luxembourg)
20-21 "Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Protection" (EPSCO) Council (Luxembourg)
24 "Foreign Affairs" Council (Luxembourg)
24 Conference: enlargement and the Western Balkans - 10 years after Thessaloniki (Farmleigh- Dublin)
24-25 "Agriculture and Fisheries" Council (Luxembourg)
25 "General Affairs" Council (GAC) (Luxembourg)
27-28 European Council (Brussels).