Belgium, one of the six founding countries of the European Union, took over the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU from Spain at midnight on Monday.

Belgium highlighted the protection of citizens, the strengthening of the economy and preparations for a common future as the priorities of its presidency.

Spain, on the other hand, points out that during the second half of last year it managed to complete several extremely important legislative packages, among others the agreement on the pact on migration and asylum, the reform of the electricity market, laying the foundations for the regulation of artificial intelligence and new fiscal rules.

In the next six months, Belgium will chair the Council of the EU for the 13th time, with the slogan “Protect, strengthen, prepare”.

Belgium has only four months

The main task of the rotating presidency is to harmonize legislative proposals between the two legislative institutions – the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

This time, Belgium will have only four months  for negotiations on behalf of the EU Council, because the last plenary session of this European Parliament will be held in April.

Orban next

An important task awaits the European Union already on 1 Feb. An extraordinary summit of the leaders of the Union was then scheduled, at which they should reach an agreement on the revision of the seven-year budget, which also includes an aid package for Ukraine in the amount of 50 billion. The 26 member states already reached agreement in principle on this at the summit in mid-December, but one country, Hungary, was against it.

Viktor Orban’s Hungary, which in recent years has been in constant conflict with European institutions and most member states, will preside over the Council of the EU in the second half of this year.