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EURef: UK stripped of 2017 EU Council Presidency

by Ian Shires on 21 July, 2016

Published on Liberal Democrat Voice By | Wed 20th July 2016 – 6:30 pm

The Presidency of the European Council rotates between the member states who hold it for 6 months at a time.  The UK was due to hold the Presidency in the second half of 2017.

Some people expected David Cameron’s pledge to hold an EU Referendum “by the end of 2017” indicated he planned to use the Presidency in a way that would then springboard him into a successful campaign.

He called it early and lost.  Now it appears there will be no UK Presidency in 2017.  The Independent reports it has been cancelled and the slot will be taken by another member state.

The Presidency of the Council involves chairing it and setting its agenda. We will never know how the 2017 Presidency could have been used by Theresa May to benefit the UK and the European Union as a whole.

Slovakia currently hold the Presidency and the website for their tenure is here, explaining their programme and priorities.

2017 is going to be an important year for Europe, with national elections is both German and France. The loss of the 2017 Presidency is a specific and significant loss of influence for the UK as a direct result of the unfortunate result on 23 June.

 

* Antony Hook was #2 on the South East European list in 2014, is the English Party’s representative on the Federal Executive and produces this sites EU Referendum Roundup.

   2 Comments

2 Responses

  1. Gemma Roulston says:

    Theresa May told Donald Tusk that we wouldn’t be taking the Presidency up in late 2017, as she felt that we would be concentrating on the Brexit negotiations, or even still preparing for them.

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