Spain takes over the Presidency of the Council of the EU from 1 July 2023 on

On 1 July 2023, Spain will take over the rotating presidency of the EU Council of Ministers until the end of the year.

The following four areas are the priorities of the Spanish government:

• Promoting reindustrialisation in Europe, with a particular focus on strengthening industry, technology and innovation in strategically important areas. At the same time, trade relations with third countries will be increasingly diversified in order to make supply chains more crisis-resistant. In this context, Spain is focusing in particular on relations with Latin American countries.
• In the area of ecological transformation, Madrid is focusing on the potential of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which could create up to one million new jobs.
• The Spanish presidency aims to consolidate the social pillar with a plan to increase taxes on large corporations.
• In the face of geopolitical challenges, European unity will be strengthened through progress on banking and capital markets union, migration and asylum policy and neighbourhood policy.

In the field of research and innovation, the Spanish Presidency intends to extend the PRIMA (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean) funding initiative until 2027. Declarations are also planned on the global dimension of research infrastructures and on strengthening the role of research in policy-making. Working meetings of EU research ministers are planned for late July and early December 2023. In addition, 12 specialised conferences will be held in Spain.

Each EU Member State will hold the Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers for a period of six months in a rotation established by the Council. The relevant ministers will chair the Council meetings (with the exception of the Foreign Affairs Council) and set their agendas. Together with Belgium and Hungary, Spain holds the Presidency of the Council for 18 months. The three countries coordinate their priorities in each policy area to ensure continuity of initiatives.

Further information can be found here.