Future EU Presidency Trio Meets In Zagreb

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published September 12, 2018 | 02:25 PM

The future trio of presidents of the Council of the European Union -- Romania, Finland and Croatia -- which will preside over the Council from January 1, 2019

Zagreb, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Sep, 2018 ) :The future trio of presidents of the Council of the European Union -- Romania, Finland and Croatia -- which will preside over the Council from January 1, 2019 until June 30, 2020 -- met at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs in Zagreb on Tuesday to discuss the common priorities of their presidency, the ministry said in a statement, HINA reports.

Attending were Victor Negrescu, Romanian minister delegate for European affairs; Kare Halonen, Finnish state secretary for EU affairs; Gabor Ivan, director of the General Policy Department at the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU; and Andreja Metelko Zgombic, Croatian state secretary for European affairs.

They exchanged views on the trio's common priorities during their 18-month presidency of the Council of the EU and discussed current issues included on the agenda of the EU and forthcoming meetings and steps being taken regarding the presidency of each member of the trio.

They agreed further cooperation within the trio, particularly in preparing a programme that should be adopted at a General Affairs Council meeting in December.

Romania will preside over the Council in the first half of 2019, after which Finland will take over for the next six months. Croatia will hold the rotating presidency from January to June 2020.

The current trio comprises Estonia, Bulgaria and Austria.

Member states holding the presidency work together closely in groups of three, called 'trios'. This system was introduced by the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. The trio sets long-term goals and prepares a common agenda determining the topics and major issues that will be addressed by the Council over an 18 month period. On the basis of this programme, each of the three countries prepares its own more detailed 6-month programme.