UK to Refuse Taking Up the EU Presidency in 2017
One of the first direct consequences of the Brexit on the workings of the European Union has come to light, as UK Prime Minister Theresa May has told EU President Donald Tusk, that the UK will not take up the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2017 as otherwise planned.
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is rotating between the member states every half year, and it has yet to be decided who will take up the presidency instead of the UK. Planning a European Council Presidency term is not a small task, as meetings, conferences and policy priorities will have to be decided by the country responsible well in advance. The next country on the list to hold the Presidency is the small Baltic state of Estonia in the first half of 2018, but it is unclear whether the UK can just be removed from the list with the other countries moving up one step.
There are precedents for this situation, as, in 2006, Germany was due to succeed Austria but stepped aside as general elections were scheduled for that period. Finland, as next in line, took Germany’s place.
It has yet to be confirmed whether UK’s wish to abstain from holding the Presidency of the Council will actually be accepted, but UK Minister in charge of the Brexit, David Davis, has formerly said that the so-called Exit Article, Article 50 in the Lisbon treaty, will probably be activated in the first half of 2017, making it quite unusual for the UK to hold the presidency while being in formal negotiations to leave the union altogether.
You can read more about the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union on this Wikipedia article which also includes a list of countries to hold the presidency.
Cover photo of Donald Tusk released by the European People’s Party under a CC BY 2.0 license.
