European Union
Belgium has taken over the presidency of the Council of the EU
As of today, Belgium holds the EU Council Presidency. photo
© Eric Lalmand/BELGA/dpa
After the Spanish EU Council Presidency, Belgium takes over the presidency. First, questions about the budget and aid to Ukraine must be clarified. It will be a challenging time for Brussels.
Belgium has the new year, which rotates every six months EU Council Presidency assumed. The country’s government representatives will take over the leadership of numerous ministerial meetings until the end of June and mediate in the event of disagreements between the other EU states.
In the coming weeks, for example, questions about the long-term EU budget and the financing of further aid for Ukraine will have to be clarified. Under the Spanish EU Council Presidency, which ended on Sunday, there was no agreement on this as originally planned.
Belgium wants to provide its own impetus, among other things, in the discussion about EU reforms. Reforms are necessary to maintain a functioning EU, strengthen its unity and increase its ability to act, the government announced when it took over the EU Council Presidency.
The presidency is considered particularly challenging for Belgium because of the European elections in June. This is likely to mean that the months leading up to it will be dominated by election campaigns. In addition, Belgium is electing a new parliament at the same time as the European elections.