Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union | |
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Council of the European Union | |
Website | https://spanish-presidency.consilium.europa.eu |
Presidency trio | |
Spain held the presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of 2023. [1] The presidency was the first of three presidencies making up a presidency trio, followed by the presidency of Belgium, and scheduled to be followed by that of Hungary. [2] It was the fifth time Spain had held the presidency. [1]
On the first day of the presidency, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez took the train to Kyiv in a highly symbolic visit, where he met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and addressed the Verkhovna Rada. [3] [4] [5] [lower-alpha 1] During the visit, Sánchez stated that one of the priorities of the Spanish presidency would be working with Ukraine in its bid to accede to the European Union. [7] [5]
The meeting of the College of Commissioners that traditionally inaugurates the rotating presidency took place at the Royal Collections Gallery in Madrid on 3 July 2023. [8] The 3rd EU–CELAC summit took place in Brussels on 17–18 July. [9] [10] The 3rd European Political Community Summit between the members of the European Political Community took place in Granada on 5 October. [11] An informal meeting of the European Council took place at the same venue in Granada the following day, on 6 October. [12]
Area | Date | Location | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Environment | 10–11 July 2023 | Valladolid | [13] |
Energy | 11–12 July 2023 | Valladolid | [14] |
Employment and social policies | 13–14 July 2023 | Madrid | [15] |
Fisheries | 17–18 July 2023 | Vigo | [16] |
Justice and home affairs | 20–21 July 2023 | Logroño | [17] |
Consumer affairs and industry and internal market | 24–25 July 2023 | Bilbao | [18] |
Health | 28 July 2023 | Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | [19] |
Competitiveness (Research) | 28 July 2023 | Santander | [20] |
Defence | 30 August 2023 | Toledo | [21] |
Foreign Affairs | 31 August 2023 | Toledo | [22] |
Agriculture | 3–5 September 2023 | Córdoba | [23] |
Development | 4–5 September 2023 | Cádiz | [24] |
Economic and financial affairs | 15–16 September 2023 | Santiago de Compostela | [25] |
Education and youth | 18–19 September 2023 | Zaragoza | [26] |
Transport | 22 September 2023 | Barcelona | [27] |
Culture | 26 September 2023 | Cáceres | [28] |
General Affairs | 28 September 2023 | Murcia | [29] |
General Affairs (cohesion) | 29 September 2023 | Murcia | [30] |
Foreign Affairs | 10 October 2023 | Videoconference | [31] |
Trade | 20 October 2023 | Valencia | [32] |
Telecommunications | 23–24 October 2023 | León | [33] |
Tourism | 31 October 2023 | Palma | [34] |
European Space Agency | 7 November 2023 | Seville | [35] |
Competitiveness (space) | 7 November 2023 | Seville | [36] |
Housing and urban development | 13–14 November 2023 | Gijón | [37] |
Equality | 23–24 November 2023 | Pamplona | [38] |
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