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Romania shall exercise for the first time the Presidency of the Council of the European Union between January 1 and June 30 of 2019 (RO PRES). For half a year, our country will be at the core of the European decisional process. Exercising this role is a national priority and an opportunity to create a consolidated European profile of Romania, and an efficient presidency presupposes undertaking the specific responsibilities, thorough preparation and allocation of adequate human and financial resources.

     

    During the time it will hold the Presidency, Romania will plan and lead the meetings of the Council of the European Union and the committees/workgroups thereof. Also, it will represent the Council in its relationships with the other EU institutions. In this framework, it will also be responsible for the organization of the informal meetings in Romania (at the level of ministries, ambassadors, senior officials, secretaries of state, general directors, experts, etc.), as well as of conferences dedicated to the specific priorities and of cultural events to promote Romania (some of them in Brussels and in the Member States of the EU).
    In the first semester of 2019, while Romania holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU, it is scheduled the finalization of the Brexit negotiations. In addition, it is important to have during the RO PRES an agreement on the financial perspective after 2020, given the elections coming towards the end of May 2019 in the European Parliament.

     

    Role and duties of the MPF in the framework of the Presidency of the EU Council

     

    Preparations for the exercise of the Presidency of the EU Council

    The MPF has started as early as July 2016 the process of preparation for the takeover of the EU Council Presidency, and the actions taken so far are:

       

        • ECOFIN Council: it is the main representative forum for the Ministry of Public Finance (MPF) in the European Union. The minister of public finance will preside over the meetings of ECOFIN Council (5 formal meetings in Brussels and Luxemburg and 1 informal meeting in Bucharest).
        • Committees and Workgroups: during RO PRES, the representatives of the MPF will preside over the works of these groups.
        • Setting the objectives and the common agenda of the trio of presidencies: during the 18 months (January 2019 – June 2020), Romania, Finland, and Croatia will have to set the objectives and a common agenda, establishing the topics and major aspects that will be debated in the Council of the EU.
        • Involvement in the organization of the informal events in the field of competence of the MPF which will be carried out in Romania.
      • Strengthening the European affairs coordination structure – one Secretary of State has been appointed on a role of coordination of the activity related to European affairs and assurance of unitary action on the line of relationships with Community institutions. The directorates coordinated by the Secretary of State for European affairs are:
        - the General Directorate of ECOFIN Preparation and Community Assistance, with a role of coordinating the activity related to European affairs in the MPF, including those related to the Presidency of the EU Council;
        - The Unit of coordination of budgetary relationships with the European Union.
      • Creation of the working network in the institution.
      • Analysis of the Workgroups that will be presided over by the MPF representatives. Identifying the specialists who will fulfill the different roles (presidents/vice-presidents of the committees/workgroups, file leaders, experts, coordinators) on different fields (taxation, financial services, EU budget, customs aspects, etc.).
      • Identifying the specialists in the MPF that are responsible for communication and protocol.
      • Preliminary identification of the possible files on the ECOFIN agenda and update thereof in accordance with the developments recorded at European level. Identification of the events in the field of competence of the MPF that shall take place during the RO PRES.
      • Organization of a training for the staff of the MPF – sharing the experience of the Ministry of Finance from the Netherlands during the Presidency of the EU Council, organization of presentations in the MPF with regard to the exercise of the RO PRES.
      • Participation to the meetings of the inter-ministry Committee for preparation and exercise of RO PRES, established on the basis of the Decision of the Prime-minister no. 360/2017.
      • Participation to a series of meetings organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the following topics: human resources, security, protocol, promotion, communication, as well as a series of work sessions, including on budgetary issues. Participating to the session regarding Internal policy coordination organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as to the seminar on Logistics; interpreting and event organization – a transfer of expertise from the central team of preparation and exercise of the Estonian Presidency.
      • Active collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Unit for preparation of the Presidency.

      The developments regarding the preparation at national level of the RO PRES can be followed mainly on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. General information about the Presidency of the EU Council can be found on the website of the EU Council.

      Austria is holding the Presidency of the EU Council between July 1 and December 31, 2018.