Portuguese EU presidency: Summer storms or a new normal?

Portugal promises its partners a positive, sober and flexible Presidency of the Council of the EU.

All Europeans hope for a normal summer, and the physical meetings planned up and down the host country. But the first half of 2021 sees the tail-end (?) of the Pandemic, the first steps of Biden-Harris in DC, and an over-crowded policy pipeline in Brussels and Strasbourg.

How will Lisbon navigate? What do the European institutions expect?

• Will the big proposals in Digital and climate get off to a fast start?
• Will Portugal’s Presidency see warmth or friction with Africa, India, Latin America?
• Will we find a shared approach to the Climate Law, Hydrogen and Carbon, Forests and Oceans?
• Closer to home, how will the new budget enable Commission support to recovery and resilience as we hopefully emerge from a Covid19 recession?

Our online conversation will tackle this set of issues.