Newsletter – n°29 – January 2015

Headlines

On January 1^st Latvia began its six-month Presidency of the European Council which, in light of the global importance of the year 2015, and guided by the principles of involvement, growth and sustainability, will place particular attention on reinforcing the role of the European Union as a global actor and on building a space of security and prosperity in the neighbouring regions.

The EU’s external policies will be highly important during this Presidency as 2015 is a crucial year for the global negotiations on sustainable development goals and climate action and has moreover been designated the European Year for Development. The Latvian Presidency will as such be committed to coordinating and promoting the common European position on the post-2015 sustainable development framework.

Early on in the Presidency talks, Andris Bērziņš, President of Latvia, declared that a main priority pursued during Latvia’s Presidency will be the support of economic development and good governance in EU Eastern Partnership countries and Central Asia. Given that Riga will also hold the fourth Eastern Partnership Summit in May, the Latvian Presidency will indeed represent a significant opportunity to foster and further develop the EU’s relationship with its Eastern partners.

The Latvian Presidency will likewise contribute to coordinating the EU's positon in view of the upcoming high-level meetings, such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States summit (EU-CELAC) to be held in Brussels in June and the 10th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation in December 2015.

For more information on the Priority dossiers under the Latvian Presidency

The priorities defined for the six-month programme of the Latvian Presidency, which is hosting the European Council for the first time and which will do so until June 2015, run parallel to those of the trio presidency work programme (which consists of the Presidencies of Italy, Latvia and Luxembourg, due to take over in July 2015). This programme further determines the general orientations of this 18-month period.

For more information on the Trio Presidency Programme