On January 1, 2013, Ireland assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, succeeding Cyprus. With its comprehensive program entitled “For Stability, Jobs and Growth,” the Irish presidency sets European economic recovery as its number one priority.

Ireland is seen as a model student in the EU among Member States hit hard by the crisis. The Celtic Tiger intends to offer its “national experience in securing fiscal and economic stability aimed at restoring jobs and strengthening social cohesion,” and to focus particularly on youth unemployment.

Ireland is no amateur when it comes to hosting the presidency of the Council of the European Union: the current presidency marks the country’s seventh term in this capacity since joining the EU forty years ago, in 1973. The previous tripartite presidency (Poland, Denmark, Cyprus) having come to an end, Ireland is now initiating a new alliance with the two countries that will follow at the helm of the EU: Lithuania (July-December 2013) and Greece (January-June 2014).

The Irish presidency’s overall program is organized around three main initiatives:

–          Ensure stability: Ireland intends to implement long-lasting tools and systems to ensure a stable Economic and Monetary Union (Banking Union, European Semester, etc.)

–          Invest in employment and sustainable growth: Ireland wants to guide the development and adjustment of the Single Market, particularly the Digital Single Market, while strengthening labor and educational mobility. In addition, one of this presidency’s greatest challenges will be to garner support for the multiannual financial framework setting out the 2014-2020 EU budget, for which negotiations are currently at a standstill.

–          Europe and the world: aside from its ambition to make Europe a leading actor in the realms of worldwide peacekeeping and the fight against poverty and climate change, Ireland plans to pursue its objective of stability, employment and growth by strengthening bilateral trade agreements with third-party countries.

The Irish presidency’s social program

The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council, chaired over these six months by the Irish Ministers of Employment, Social Protection and Health, will address the following priorities:

1. Take up the problem of youth unemployment, particularly by furthering the proposals included in the European Commission’s “Youth Employment Package,” which aim to promote education, training and skills development, among other areas.

2. Enhance job creation and social cohesion through programs and structural funds, especially through proposals to the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Union Program for Social Change and Innovation (PSCI) and the European Globalization Adjustment Fund (EGF). This targeted support for job creation will be included in the multiannual financial framework for which the Irish presidency will strive to reach an agreement.

3. Facilitate worker mobility by putting forth proposals on key issues such as portability of pension rights and employee secondment.

4. Make progress on healthcare policy issues, particularly with regard to cross-border health threats, the directive on tobacco products, proposals on pharmaceutical products and medical devices.