On 1 January 2022, France took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. This is a huge moment for France and the EU.
Over two years ago, the European Policy Centre (EPC) launched Project presidency, an initiative to analyse each rotating presidency with a view of influencing debates and contributing new ideas. Every six months, it partners with a think tank based in the country holding the rotating presidency to create a bridge between political stakeholders in Brussels and national capitals. EPC’s partner for the French presidency of the EU is Paris-based think tank Institut Montaigne.
Between September 2021 and June 2022, the two think tanks will organise a series of roundtables to discuss the different presidency priorities.
Each roundtable will gather around 15 to 20 high-level participants, including representatives of the French government, European institutions, and member-state diplomats, as well as the private sector, academia, think tanks and the media.
To date, two roundtables have been held within the current cooperation, with more to follow:
- In September 2021, EPC and Institut Montaigne organised a roundtable entitled Reaching climate neutrality: Will the EU deliver on the “Fit for 55 package”?, with high level officials of the European Commission and members of national governments.
- In December 2021, EPC and Institut Montaigne organised a roundtable entitled Strengthening the EU’s capacity to act in tech with Tyson Barker (DGAP), officials of the European Commission, members of national governments and parliaments. We also partnered with the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) for this event.