Portugal is a democratic republic with a unitary semi-presidential system of government, whereby the Prime Minister of Portugal is the head of government. The current Prime Minister is António Luís Santos da Costa, from the Socialist Party, and a former MEP who was a Vice-President of the European Parliament between July 2004 and March 2005. Continue reading
This note looks at the legislative and political projects, which could feature predominantly during the German Presidency. Continue reading
For the first time since joining the European Union in 2013, Croatia will hold the rotating Council Presidency from 1 January to 30 June 2020. Continue reading
Romania will hold the EU Council Presidency from January to July 2019. Its Presidency comes at the end of the European Parliament’s current legislative term, with European elections taking place on 23-26 May 2019. Continue reading
Austria will hold the EU Council Presidency from July to December 2018. Its presidency comes at the end of the Trio Presidency composed of Estonia, Bulgaria and Austria. The last time Austria held the Council Presidency was in 2006. Continue reading
Bulgaria will hold the EU Council Presidency from January to June 2018. Its Presidency is part of the Trio Presidency composed of Estonia, Bulgaria and Austria. This will be the first time Bulgaria has held the rotating presidency since it joined the EU in 2007. Continue reading
Written by Lucienne Attard (The Directorate-General for the Presidency), Estonia will hold the EU Council Presidency from July to December 2017. Its presidency will herald a new Trio Presidency, composed of Estonia, Bulgaria and Austria. This will be the first time Estonia holds the rotating presidency. Estonia is currently led by a government coalition consisting … Continue reading
Written by Marie Thiel, Elisabeth Bauer and Irene Vlad (Transparency Unit). On 10 May 2017 a public workshop entitled ‘EU Transparency Register – lobbying, Parliament & public trust’ to exchange best practices and models for lobby regulation at national and EU level took place at the European Parliament in Brussels. The event was hosted by … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Written by Dora Boytha (Office of the Deputy Secretary-General), On 1 July 2016, Slovakia will take over the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU from The Netherlands, as part of the Dutch-Slovak-Maltese ‘Trio Presidency’. The Slovak “coalition of historic compromise” was only sworn in on 23 March 2016 and Prime Minister Robert … Continue reading
Written by Dora Boytha (Office of the Deputy Secretary-General), From January to June 2016, The Netherlands will hold the Presidency of the EU Council for the 12th time, kicking off the Dutch-Slovak-Maltese Trio Presidency. The Dutch Council of Ministers, also called the Cabinet of the Netherlands, consists of the Prime Minister (Mark Rutte), 13 Ministers … Continue reading
Written by Caterina Francesca Guidi and Gaby Umbach, both GlobalStat In cooperation with Nicole Scholz, EPRS Accurate, comprehensive, high-quality data and statistics are not only central elements of evidence-based public health policy. By raising health awareness among the general public, they can also help achieve better social and health outcomes and reduce health inequalities. The health … Continue reading
Written by Laura Bartolini and Gaby Umbach (both GlobalStat) Statistical data are vital in many domains of our political and societal life. They play a key role in the measuring our societies, they inform policy-making, and empower people by providing knowledge. The recent proliferation of statistics and the increasing use of indexes and indicators to … Continue reading
Written by Dora Boytha (Office of the Deputy Secretary-General) Luxembourg will hold its 12th Presidency of the Council, concluding the Italian-Latvian-Luxembourg Trio Council Presidency in the second half of 2015. Luxembourg last presided over the Council of the EU in 2005. The official programme of the Presidency will be presented to the Conference of Committee Chairs by … Continue reading
Written by Marika Lerch (Directorate-General for External Policies). Graphics and statistics by Eulalia Claros (European Parliamentary Research Service) In many developing countries women and girls are disproportionately affected by poverty and exclusion. Although the UN adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1979, women and girls still face … Continue reading
Written by Manuel Manrique Gil (Directorate-General for External Policies). Graphics and statistics by Eulalia Claros (European Parliamentary Research Service) Access to quality education is essential for development. Not only does education provide children, youth and adults with the knowledge and skills to be active citizens and to fulfil themselves as individuals, literacy in particular contributes … Continue reading
Written by Manuel Manrique Gil (Directorate-General for External Policies). Graphics and statistics by Eulalia Claros (European Parliamentary Research Service) The world has changed rapidly in recent years: the rapid growth of emergent economies and the slow recovery of the European Union after the 2008-2009 economic crisis have diluted the ‘North/South’, ‘developed/developing’ divisions that sustained the … Continue reading
By Milana Stekovic During the month of October the library of the European Parliament hosted a fellow from the newly established Pre-Accession Fellowship Programme 2013, Milana Šteković, from the Serbian Parliamentary Library. It was a period of mutual learning highly beneficial for both sides. Milana explains how the Library of the National Assembly of the Republic of … Continue reading
By Eric Lowitt This guest blog post is a pre-cursor to the upcoming debate on The Collaboration Economy scheduled for 16 October 2013 at 18.00 to take place in the EU Parliament Library in Brussels. Worldwide we are engaged in a conflict that we must win. This conflict has three components: math, trust, and economic … Continue reading
by Kristina Sabaliauskaité To mark the Lithuanian Presidency we will be holding a talk on 24th of September which will focus on literature, history and arts, but mostly – on Lithuania in Europe, and Europe in Lithuania. Lithuania often prides itself being at the geographical centre of Europe, yet not many Europeans would locate it … Continue reading