Seven years after entering the EU, Croatia could take over rotating presidency in 2020.
Croatia could take over the rotating EU presidency in the first half of 2020. The formal decision on this is expected in the next few days, reports 24sata.hr on July 22, 2016.
“The issue was discussed on Wednesday at a meeting of COREPER, a body comprised of ambassadors of member countries, and the idea was met with great support”, said a source, saying that the formal decision would be made very soon. The decision will be taken in written procedure, which means that there is no need to wait for a meeting of any EU body.
The Council of the European Union has earlier decided on the order of the rotating presidency for the period from 1 January 2007 until 1 July 2020. According to the order, Slovakia, which currently holds the presidency, will be replaced in the first half of next year by Malta, and in the second half of 2017 by the United Kingdom. However, given the fact that Great Britain is leaving the EU, the British government has decided not to take over the presidency. Therefore, the solution for the new situation would be that all countries after Malta will move their presidency six months earlier. This means that Estonia, which should have presided in the first half of 2018, would instead take over the presidency in the second half of 2017, instead of the United Kingdom. Estonia would be followed of Bulgaria in the first half of 2018, and then by Austria in the second half of 2018, while Romania and Finland will preside in 2019. After that, the proposal is for the rotating presidency in the first half of 2020 to be taken over by Croatia. After Croatia ends its term, the order would start again, which means that Germany would take over.
According to sources from the EU, the original intention was for Croatia to take over presidency in the first half of 2026. Therefore, the new solution would mean that Croatia would preside six years earlier than was expected by the original plan, and seven years after joining the EU.
Since the entry of the Lisbon Treaty into force on 1 December 2009, the role of the presiding country is not as visible as before, since the summit meetings of European leaders are chaired by the permanent president of the European Council, and not by the prime minister of the presiding country. In addition, the Council on Foreign Affairs is chaired by the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. However, all other formations of the Council are chaired by the presiding country, which has a very important role in the harmonization of legislative proposals and all decisions within the competence of the Council.
