About: German presidency

Germany’s Seehofer cautiously optimistic on EU asylum reform

Germany said on Tuesday (7 July) it wants EU nations to overcome a deadlock on how to handle refugees and migrants this year, and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) expressed "justified confidence" that a deal can be found. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Altmaier argues against ‘international monopolies’ in the platform economy

A "well-regulated" platform economy should allow for small and medium-sized enterprises to compete fairly and should not lead to the formation of "international monopolies", German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Tuesday (7 July).

Tweets of the Week: Queen Merkel, Brexit Extension, Parliament Robberies

Angela Merkel is hailed as a wonder, the world stays alert for the next Brexit blunder, and burglars in Parliament make off with MEP plunder

Von der Leyen calls mini-summit to push for a deal on recovery plan

European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen called on Thursday (2 July) a mini-summit for next week with her counterparts at the Council, Parliament and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to work towards a deal on the EU recovery package.

Merkel kicks off EU presidency with Brexit warning

The European Union must prepare for the possibility that talks with Britain on their post-Brexit relationship could fail, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Wednesday (1 July) as Germany took the helm of the bloc's rotating presidency.

New coal law will be ‘canary in a coal mine’ moment for German presidency

As Germany takes the helm of the EU, its problematic coal law risks sending out the wrong signals, writes Riccardo Nigro.

Altmaier: Gaia X to play ‘central role’ in digital transition

The European Cloud infrastructure initiative Gaia-X will play a "central role" in the EU's digital transition as it charts its recovery out of the coronavirus crisis, Germany's Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has said. 

Merkel’s legacy at stake as Germany takes EU reins

Germany takes over the European Union's six-month presidency Wednesday (1 July), with outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel staking her legacy on a massive economic recovery plan to help the bloc cope with the coronavirus fallout.

China-EU summit in Germany postponed due to coronavirus

A summit planned for September in Leipzig, Germany, between China and the European Union has been postponed because of the coronavirus, the German government said on Wednesday (3 June).

EU must play global role in virus crisis, says Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday (27 May) said the European Union should take more global responsibility in the coronavirus crisis, especially as ties with the United States were currently "difficult".

Future of Europe Conference: Part of Germany’s EU Presidency agenda?

This year's Europe Day should have been the starting point for the conference on the Future of Europe, but the coronavirus pandemic has put the project on the backburner. Could Germany's EU Presidency give new impetus to the initiative? EURACTIV Germany reports.

Coronavirus to dominate agenda of Germany’s EU presidency

The coronavirus outbreak will dominate the agenda of the European Union when Germany takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of this year, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas wrote in an opinion...

Pull yourselves together for EU’s sake, German Greens urge CDU

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), embroiled in a leadership crisis, must unite and keep their ruling coalition stable as Germany takes on the rotating European Union presidency this year, Greens leader Annalena Baerbock said on Saturday (15 February).

Time to move on – The EU after the German Presidency

In this July 2007 online dossier, Marco Overhaus and Hanns W. Maull of Deutsche-Aussenpolitik.de take ''a first systematic stock'' of Germany's EU Presidency - which ended on 31 June 2007 - by comparing the ''stated goals before the presidency'' with ''the actual results at the end of the term''.

Portugal set to wrestle with energy, climate proposals

With climate change high on the agenda, the Portuguese Presidency will take a first stab at the Commission's package of legislative proposals on energy, scheduled for release in September.

MEPs hail Merkel’s Reform Treaty success

The European Parliament gave a broadly positive verdict on the Reform Treaty deal struck by the German Presidency at the EU Summit on 21-23 June.

CEPS proposal on weighting votes in the Council

A double-majority system with a safety clause could overcome Poland's request for a square root voting system in the Council, claim Daniel Gros, Sebastian Kurpas and Mika Widgren in a June 2007 paper for the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS).

The EU needs a new Treaty

The EU is in urgent need of a new Treaty, argue Richard Baldwin and Mika Widgren in a June paper for the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London. The new Treaty simply must reform the current EU decision-making system, whatever other 'filler' items it may contain, the paper insists.

Institutional deadlock and the June Summit

It should be possible to reach an agreement over the stalled Constitutional Treaty at the June Summit if two sets of conditions are satisfied, write Sebastian Kurpas and Stefano Micossi in a May 2007 paper for the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS).

Poland threatens to block EU Treaty negotiations

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski dismissed EU leaders' hopes of finding a swift solution to the institutional impasse, saying that new treaty negotiations could take up to a year. European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering warned that a Polish veto would 'put Europe into a crisis'.

Brown, Blair and the Constitutional Treaty

Prime Minister Tony Blair believes that no referendum on the Constitutional Treaty would need to be held in the UK if, instead of attempting revive the original wide-ranging Treaty, the members states now simply agreed on a series of amendments, writes Brendan Donnelly of the Federal Union.

Parliament pushes for ‘Treaty plus’

MEPs have threatened to vote down a new EU Treaty that would fail to preserve the key elements of the draft EU Constitution, as Parliament struggles to make its voice heard ahead of the June Summit on institutional reform.

Poland urged to ease Treaty stance

European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi have called on the 'naysayers' to drop their resistance to institutional reforms ahead of a decisive EU Summit on 21-22 June.