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António Costa as President of the European Council: The first 100 days
On 1 December 2024, António Costa became the fourth President of the European Council. He was a long-time prime minister of Portugal (2015-2024) and, before that, a Member of the European Ϸվ (2004-2005). With nearly a decade of experience as a member of the European Council, he hit the ground running at the start of his term, consolidating his acquaintance with EU leaders, adjusting the European Council's working methods and improving EU interinstitutional relations. As the office of European ...
Priority dossiers under the Polish EU Council Presidency
Poland assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January, and will hold the office until 30 June 2025. This is the second Polish Presidency after the country's first stint in 2011. Poland is the opening member of a new trio, along with Denmark and Cyprus. Following Poland, Denmark will take over the presidency on 1 July 2025.
The European Council and enlargement
In May 2024, former European Ϸվ President Pat Cox described enlargement as perhaps the 'EU's most powerful, transformative and successful policy tool over the past five decades'. The European Council (EU heads of state or government) has, from the outset, played a central role in the EU's enlargement process, shaping both formal and informal aspects. The Lisbon Treaty formally tasked the institution with defining the eligibility conditions to be applied to the accession process. Each enlargement ...
European Union gender budgeting – state of play 2024
The European Commission adopted the 2020-2025 Gender Equality Strategy to achieve significant progress towards gender equality across the EU by 2025. This included the introduction of the gender budgeting methodology in 2021. The methodology was applied to the budgets of 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. The gender budgeting methodology categorises programmes using scores (2, 1, 0*, 0). However, vague criteria like ‘potential to contribute’ (score of 0*) and limited data undermine its accuracy and ...
Confirmation hearings of the Commissioners-designate: Costas Kadis – Fisheries and Oceans
Costas (Costantinos) Kadis is a scientist with a solid academic profile who has held ministerial portfolios in health, education and agriculture in various Cypriot governments. Kadis is professor of biodiversity conservation at Frederick University, where he also heads the Nature Conservation Unit and has been appointed as deputy president of the University Council. Between 2014 and 2023, Kadis served in two successive Cypriot governments without belonging to a political party. He was minister for ...
New EU interinstitutional body for ethical standards
Transparency and ethical rules are essential to preserve citizens' confidence in public institutions. Corruption, defined by Transparency International as 'the abuse of entrusted power for private gain', is a threat for every country – and for the European Union (EU) institutions. According to a 2023 Eurobarometer survey, 70 % of the Europeans interviewed believed that corruption was widespread, and almost 75 % thought that there was corruption in the public institutions in their own country. At ...
Research for REGI, CONT and BUDG Committees - Cohesion Policy Calendar (2021-2027 and 2014-2020 Programming Periods) July 2024 update
The implementation timetable for cohesion policy is defined largely by its legislative framework. In order to be able to plan parliamentary work and exercise systematic scrutiny of policy implementation and of the Commission’s work, it is essential to have an overview of the timing of different steps in policy implementation in the coming years. This type of briefing was first published (and subsequently updated) in 2014 covering the 2014-2020 programming period. This version includes the policy ...
Strategic Agenda 2024-2029: Continuity or paradigm shift?
The EU's leaders took two crucial decisions at their summit on 27 June to set the framework for the new institutional cycle: one on high-level appointments, the other on the Union's political priorities for the next 5 years, the Strategic Agenda 2024-2029. Since the adoption of the previous edition of the EU's long-term priorities in 2019, the EU has had to face major crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy crisis, and the change in the security environment following Russia's full-scale ...
Role and election of the President of the European Commission
With the 2024 elections now over, during its first part-session, from 16 to 19 July 2024, the new Ϸվ is due to vote in a secret ballot on whether to approve the European Council's chosen candidate for President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. She was the lead candidate for the European People's Party. In Ϸվ, the candidate needs to secure 361 votes, i.e. an absolute majority of all Members (currently 720). The President of the European Commission has taken on an ever ...
Timeline to new EU institutional leadership
The June 2024 European elections were just the first step in a broader renewal of the leadership of all the European Union's main institutions. This revised timeline, following the decision of the Conference of Presidents of Ϸվ's political groups to hold the election of the Commission President on 18 July 2024, sets out the main steps up until the end of 2024, with likely timings.