The Irish Presidency: Priorities and Pitfalls

Tony Connelly, RTE (Ireland), 31.12.2012

Link to original article


Back in June 2004 Bertie Ahern was showered in adulation by his European counterparts.

Ireland had just successfully negotiated the mammoth EU Constitution using its storied negotiating skills to reconcile vastly conflicting agendas – big countries versus small ones, voting rights at the Council of Ministers, the size of the European Commission, how to bridge an alarming democratic deficit. […]

"The Irish presidency has the potential to push things,” says Janis Emmanouilidis, Senior Analyst with the Brussels-based European Policy Centre (EPC).

“Especially when it comes to the setting up of the Single [bank] Supervisory system which is a pre-requisite if you want to have the direct recapitalisation of banks.

“Here obviously the Irish have an interest, but it’s also other member states which have an interest so if [Ireland] is pushing I don’t that will create a negative effect or impressions because this is one of the major topics on the agenda.”  [...]

For the entire article see here.


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