The Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union will take office on Wednesday 1 July, for six months. Two ‘Energy’ Councils and two ‘Environment’ Councils are planned: on 29 October and 10 December for energy, and on 12 October and 11 December for climate and environment. In addition, an informal ‘Environment’ Council will take place in Dublin on 24 July and an informal ‘Energy’ Council will be held in the same city on 29 September.
The Irish Presidency states that “sustainable, secure and affordable energy is a strategic necessity for Europe”. For this Presidency, such an energy “underpins society, supports economic competitiveness, and enables the delivery of the Union’s climate objectives”.
Secure and interconnected energy networks. On the energy front, its main priority is the swift adoption, by the end of the year, of the networks package, on which a political agreement has just been reached (see EUROPE 13897/1).
Moreover, the revision of the European Union’s energy security of supply framework and network charges are two legislative proposals that will have to be examined and debated during the Irish Presidency.
The European Commission’s legislative proposal on network charges is expected to be presented on 15 July, at the same time as an EU Electrification Action Plan. That is also the day when the proposal for the revision of ETS1 will be presented.
Network charges and taxation. The Network Charges and Taxation proposal should, according to Ireland, “update the network tariff regime” and “address the ‘Spark Gap’ (the difference in the cost between of a unit of energy from fossil fuels and a unit of energy from electricity)”.
A political agreement in principle is hoped for by 10 December, both on the revision of the EU Energy Security Framework and on network charges.
The security of energy infrastructure, notably submarine cables and nuclear installations, also features in the Irish Presidency’s working document, as does the work planned on the Energy Products Simplification Omnibus, presented by the Commission last week (see EUROPE 13895/4).
Finally, Ireland undertakes to continue work on the REPowerEU roadmap “to phase out the remaining Russian energy imports into the European market”.
ETS and CBAM spearheads of climate policy. On the climate front, the revision of the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS or 'ETS'), the revision of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the review of ETS1 and ETS2 safeguards are Ireland’s “key priorities”.
The provisional programme shows that the ETS review will contain several proposals: one on the system as such and one on the Market Stability Reserve, already partially revised in April last year (see EUROPE 13841/1).
The European Commission also announced, on Friday 26 June, that a third proposal on the allocation of free allowances would be presented on 15 July (see EUROPE 13897/4). A political agreement in principle on the ETS revision is hoped for by the Presidency at the 11 December EU Council.
At that same EU Council, debates will take place both on the post-2030 package, in other words the proposals that will make it possible to reach the climate target of a 90% reduction in emissions by 2040 (compared with 1990 levels), and on the integrated climate resilience framework, which the Commission is expected to present in the second half of 2026 (see EUROPE 13879/12).
Lastly, Ireland supports the development of a framework “to support private investment in carbon removals”.
COP31. An ‘Environment’ Council will take place before and after COP31 which will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November. At the ‘Economic and Financial Affair’s Council to be held on 9 October, the Member States are expected to reach a common position on climate finance in preparation for that event. The EU position on the other items on the COP31 agenda (just transition, electrification, for example) will be adopted during the ‘Environment’ Council on 12 October.
Clean transport. The Presidency’s priorities regarding the decarbonisation of transport are closely linked to its energy and climate objectives. This is the case, for example, with the objective of reaching an agreement on the ‘net-zero framework’ in November 2026 within the International Maritime Organization. This would set binding targets to reduce emissions from the maritime sector on a global level. CO2 emission standards for cars and vans, as well as the electrification of company fleets, are all European transport policies that will contribute to the Union’s climate objectives, according to the Presidency.
To see the Irish Presidency’s priorities: https://aeur.eu/f/mmk
And the draft agenda: https://aeur.eu/f/mml (Original version in French by Nadège Delépine)