The year 2024 started with the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. As the torch is being passed on to Hungary, it is worthy to take a look at the past half year and see if there are any results worthy of our attention.
Belgium held the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2024, from 1 January to 30 June. It took the rotating EU Council presidency for the thirteenth time, at a very delicate moment, with the European Union standing at crossroads in many dimensions: it had to deal with the consequences of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, with the remnant effects of the COVID pandemic, the energy crisis, and a renewed conflict in the Middle East – just to mention the most relevant ones.
Difference between the various “councils” within the EU
Before moving on with the actual evaluation, it is important to lay some basics. It is vital not to confuse the Council of the European Union with the Council of Europe (a pan-European international organisation that has existed alongside the EU since 1949, the framework of which includes the famous Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights) or with the European Council which consists of the heads of state and government of the EU member states.
The European Council is a separate body which has had its own president since the reforms of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, who is currently Charles Michel. The meetings of the European Council are also called “European summits”, indicating the political weight of those which are usually convened to make high level political decisions about the direction of the EU.
On the other hand, the Council of the European Union, or “Council”, sometimes “EU Council” for short, refers to the meetings of member states’ ministers responsible for a policy field, currently in ten different formations. It mainly participates in the legislative proceedings of the EU, alongside the European Parliament, in a so-called “co-legislative” role. The so-called “rotating presidency” is responsible for the operation of this Union institution.
The relevance of the “rotating presidency” of the Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union (from now on: Council) has the “rotating presidency” (currently held by Hungary), which means that, based on a predetermined order (currently decided by the European Council in 2016), one member state performs the complex task of coordinating the preparation of the submissions to and of the work of the Council every six months. This can be really difficult sometimes, because by the time a proposal comes before the level of the ministers, the governments of the member states “chew” it thoroughly, which means consultations taking place at the political level in the form of professional discussions in various working groups, and then in the coordination of permanent representations.
The coordination of this process is one of the main tasks of the presidency held by a member state, and it usually does provide the individual member states with significant political influence, which can later be transformed into political advantages via exchange of interests (additionally some opportunities to elevate country image, and other less important, but still useful perks). This is the main reason why EU member states still maintain this, at first glance, bit confusing system. It has its worth to them. They can profit from the opportunity of taking this role by casually acting in the interest of other member states, which in turn, do not forget it to them. In exchange they can return the favour, even outside of the scope of activities of the EU. The institution of the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union exists because it offers all existing political actors the opportunity to bargain, to give and receive political favours.
In exchange for the use of these advantages, the member state with the presidency is expected to ensure a smooth operation of the Council, which is usually an uneasy task, as various member states may harbour different interests related to various EU legislative issues. This work is often assisted by the negotiations on the level of European summits by heads of states and governments (possibly coordinated by the President of the European Council) which often serves as the final level of hammering out political differences between member states. If a political compromise is needed on that level, the presidency of the Council is usually “only” responsible to coordinate the practical realisation of this high-level political deal.
To make sure that a half-year presidency of the Council does not become a “single member state-issue”, the Lisbon Treaty has introduced the system of so-called “trios”, meaning three member states’ presidencies working together. These “trios” have to set longer-term goals and prepare a common agenda determining the major issues and possible topics for the upcoming 18-month period, and all three member states are required to prepare its own detailed 6-month programme. The current presidential trio is made up of the presidencies of Spain (held the presidency in the second half of 2023), Belgium (held the presidency in the first half of 2024) and Hungary (actual presidency).
Plans and priorities of the Belgian presidency
The Belgian presidency has identified six priorities for their semester.
The first one is defending rule of law, democracy, and unity within the European Union. One of the main goals was the empowerment and inclusion of citizens, with a special focus on youth participation, as well as work on the European education
Second, strengthening European competitiveness which means recognising new necessities, e.g. the development of new technologies. The EU must ensure a level playing field for businesses, for which a coherent, predictable and simplified regulatory framework is of vital importance. Internal market, industrial future, capital markets and energy union have to be developed. For this, the presidency aimed to enhance the role of research and development, among many other things. Cohesion policy is deemed as an essential long-term investment instrument, as a catalyst for transformation and convergence, and as cement for the European Union.
The third was to pursue a green and just transition. It is recognised now that there is an urgent need to address the crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. One important way is to carry on with the Green Deal, and the Belgian presidency promised to place the energy and climate transition at the centre of its priorities. It aimed to enhance the EU’s circular economy, adaptiveness and preparedness capacities, to promote sustainable water and energy management, the development of renewable and low-carbon energy sources and carriers.
Fourth, reinforcing the European social and health agenda was also a priority of the Belgian presidency. Building on the European Pillar of Social Rights, it aimed to equip the EU with an ambitious social agenda to foster a European society that is more inclusive, gender-equal and fair for all by strengthening social dialogue at all levels, by promoting fair labour mobility, mental health at work and providing access to sustainable social protection. Additionally, development of the EU’s crisis preparedness, strengthening of the security of medicines supply was aimed at, including improving citizens’ access to affordable medicines.
Fifth, the no. 1. European political issue was not forgotten: the aim to protect people and borders. Under this leg, the presidency aimed to address all remaining legislative files associated with the issue of migration, most importantly the ongoing legislative process related to the “European pact on migration and asylum”. While its goal was to reinforce trust between member states in a spirit of responsibility and solidarity, and to bring legal clarity to people arriving in the EU, it proved to be a hard job to successfully conclude that process, because of all the political noise and lack of some member states’ genuine will of cooperation. Besides, the external dimension of migration and asylum seemed to be a challenge, requiring cooperation with the EU’s African partner states, in full respect of applicable provisions of international law.
Additionally, the presidency had to promise paying particular attention to the fight against organised crime, preventing and tackling terrorism and violent extremism, and bolstering the EU’s resilience against crises and new and hybrid challenges. It required a more integrated Union approach, and included the strengthening of the European defence technological and industrial base, by exploring the possibility of developing a European Defence Industry Strategy among others.
The final priority of the Belgian presidency was the “promotion of a global Europe”, meaning making the EU a global actor in international relations. As the forming global multilateral system and the rules based on it face increasing strain from geopolitical confrontation (tragically including the return of use of force on the European continent), the presidency promised to make the EU strengthen its resilience and autonomy to be able to defend its interests and values. To achieve this, the presidency vowed to make the EU fully mobilise its economic, security and defence capabilities.
What are the results of the Belgian presidency?
As indicated above, high-level political compromises are not the responsibility of the Council presidency – those deals are made by heads of states and governments in the European Council, even if formal decisions are to be made by the Council after that. As the current presidential period was heavily influenced by issues like those, much of the hard-hitting was done at the level of European summits, but still, the presidency had a lot on its plate.
During this period, the presidency tried its best to drive forward legislative work. It closed 74 agreements and found 57 Council-level negotiating mandates, as it put it, “demonstrating the Belgian ‘culture of compromise’.” The legislative work during this period was built around the above mentioned six priorities.
The presidency made efforts to develop fundamental principles of democracy, such as rule of law, freedom of the press (e.g. the conclusion of the adoption of the European Media Freedom Act), strong legal systems, and the fight against corruption. It also worked to strengthen the internal market and focused on greening industries to facilitate the move towards clean energy and enhance the EU’s resilience – the EU’s objective to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 was also a serious challenge, making the presidency pushing for the swift implementation of Green Deal initiatives, focusing on climate adaptation and resilience, and raising awareness on climate risk preparedness.
Related to migration and borders, the Belgian presidency enabled the finalisation and adoption of the Pact on Asylum and Migration, hopefully making the Common European Asylum System more effective, fair and resilient, and reinforcing trust between member states. The presidency also kickstarted the processes that will enable and overview the necessary implementation of the provisions of the Pact over the next two years.
Additionally, as the European Union is a major economic power on the world stage, the ambitions are clear to make it a geopolitical player. The Belgian presidency supported the EU’s efforts to better promote its interests and values, while strengthening its resilience and open strategic autonomy. In this regard, major advances were secured on defence, sanctions policy, and the EU’s strategic foreign policy.
The other field, where the presidency had a lot to do, was crisis response. During its six months term, the Belgian presidency had quite a few of those going on: Russia’s war in Ukraine, reaffirming and acting on the EU’s commitment to peace in the Middle East, trying to protect electoral processes from undue interference, and addressing the urgent concerns of European farmers were all on the table.
The Belgian presidency brokered agreements to secure aid to Ukraine (the most significant is the so-called Ukraine Facility, providing Ukraine with €50 billion in EU financial support by 2027). Additionally, the presidency assisted in the adoption of the Implementing Decision on the Ukraine Plan, on a Ukraine Assistance Fund, and supported Ukraine by brokering an agreement to extend autonomous trade measures on Ukrainian exports – not even mentioning the assistance in Ukraine’s EU accession process. Moreover, the presidency assisted a Council agreement on the profits made from immobilised Russian assets, and the 13th and 14th sanction packages against the aggressor Russia. The presidency was also very active related to the conflict in the Middle East, leading to the EU imposing sanctions against members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and for the first time, against violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Under the “Preparing Europe’s future” leg, the presidency has also been effective. Apart from constant brokering and mediating between member states, it prepared a Progress Report on the Future of Europe to feed the European Council conclusions on a Roadmap for future work on internal reforms. To boost the EU’s competitiveness, the presidency presented a Stocktaking Note on Competitiveness too, bringing together various initiatives organised or facilitated by the presidency.
The website of the Belgian presidency gives not only a general overview of its priorities and goals, but also a detailed recount of its conclusions and results.
What is left for the Hungarian presidency?
Similarly to the Spanish presidency, one of the most “political” tasks – in the competence of the presidency – during this period, lacking a result, was the management of the ongoing Article 7 proceedings against Hungary and Poland. It is still stuck in its first phase, where a 4/5 majority of the member states is needed for its advancement to the second phase. Probably because of the lack of this support, the presidency has never scheduled a vote, postponing the question to the… Hungarian presidency, already raising eyebrows by many political and analytical actors, while clearly understanding the problems possibly coming out of this.
Managing further accession negotiations with potential new member states will also fall on the Hungarian presidency, knowing that the Hungarian government is not supportive to some aspects of that – most importantly the accession of Ukraine, while other states’ accession is very much to the liking of Hungary. But this problem will not necessarily be taken to the Council presidency during the upcoming period, the member states will uphold direct decisions for themselves on the matter, and they will try to orient the presidency to deal with inside matters.
One unique task of the Belgian presidency was to “clean tables”, meaning closing as many files as possible, before the start of the Hungarian presidency on 1 July. This was successful, as there are relatively few questions left to the Hungarian presidency which – with the start of the new parliamentary term and lack of legislative proposals from the European Commission during this period – will expectedly have more space of manoeuvring during its period.
This was especially important related to some issues promising to be “hot” in the eyes of the Hungarian government. For example, it has just taken the annulment procedure (at the beginning of July) to the European Court of Justice against the European Media Freedom Act, the adoption of which is considered to be one of the major results of the Belgian presidency.
We are looking at a very interesting next presidency period.