Written by Lucienne Attard (The Directorate-General for the Presidency),
Malta will hold the EU Council Presidency from January to July 2017. Its Presidency will bring to an end the Trio Presidency composed of the Netherlands, Slovakia and Malta. This is the first time Malta holds the rotating presidency. Malta is currently led by a Socialist government, with Joseph Muscat as its Prime Minister. Prime Minister Muscat was a Member of the European Parliament between July 2004 and January 2007. He has been Prime Minister since 2013. The next general elections are due in 2018.
Malta is a republic with a unicameral parliamentary system. Parliament is composed of representatives of two main political parties – the Nationalist party, which is a Christian-Democratic party and the Labour party, a Social-Democratic party.
Political priorities of the Maltese presidency
Six over-arching priorities have been identified by the Maltese government, as follows:
- Migration
- Single market
- Security
- Social inclusion
- Europe’s Neighbourhood
- Maritime sector
The Maltese Presidency is also cognisant of the impact a potential triggering of Article 50 by the British government will have on the future of the EU, and is preparing for a potential start of negotiations on a British exit from the EU. Prime Minister Theresa May has announced the notification under Article 50 by the UK government can be expected by March 2017.
This note looks at the Maltese Presidency priorities in Part A, together with the most important dossiers which the European Parliament will need to address in the coming six months, in Part B.
Read the complete briefing on ‘Priority dossiers under the Maltese EU Council Presidency‘ in PDF.
The Directorate-General for the Presidency (DG Presidency) plays a key role throughout each parliamentary procedure, from its launch until its conclusion through the adoption of an EP resolution or legislative act, in particular in ensuring the smooth running of the plenary sessions. The staff of the DG play a key coordination role across the different services of the Parliament, and support Members in a wide range of activities. The Interinstitutional Relations Unit within DG Presidency, amongst other tasks, prepares a broad range documents concerned with strategic programming, such as on activities of the Commission and the Council.
