'eu presidency' - tagged features

The focus this week in the European Union was on Slovenia, the country that took over the rotating presidency of the Union last week. All 27 commissioners gathered in the country’s capital Ljubljana, this week for its first meeting with the new presidency. Kosovo is top of the EU’s agenda; the Serbian province may well soon declare unilateral independence. But our Brussels correspondent says that Slovenia doesn’t seem to see eye to eye with the Union. He says they don’t seem to have consulted much with their European colleagues on the issue. The message, he says, was muddled. 

January 1st also sees Germany take over the rotating presidency of the European Union from Finland. The six-months at the helm of the EU does not give a lot of time to tackle big issues but there are high expectations of Germany. Many members are looking to Berlin to make progress on the European constitution which was rejected by French and Dutch voters last year. There are also several other sensitive issues on the agenda including energy security, relations with Russia, climate change and the Middle East. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will need to maneuver carefully through a potential diplomatic minefield. 

Austria hands over the Presidency of the European Union to Finland on Saturday 1st July. Over the past 6 months, Austria had the job of finalising details of the EU's post 2007 budget, as well as moving the Lisbon strategy forward. This initiative aims to increase Europe's competitiveness and to create more jobs. But an unexpected challenge came Austria's way when Russian energy supplies were suddenly threatened in the depths of the very cold last European winter. Kerry Skyring reports on the highs and lows of the Austrian EU Presidency. 

Finland is about to begin its second EU presidency, the first was back in 1999. Since that time the union has grown, and the challenges facing it today have changed. RFI's Hannah Godfrey asks Finland based journalist Cheryl Riggins about Finnish priorities for their presidency. 

The EU's new member states may be enthusiastic about further eastward expansion. But their enthusiasm is not shared by the old EU members. Germany, which will assume the rotating EU presidency next January, is one of them. Another is France. Radio France Internationale spoke to Philippe Moreau Defarges, senior researcher at France's Institute for International Relations. 

Cafés are often associated with communication and local culture. They are also a very typical symbol of our common European heritage. That's why the Institute of the Regions of Europe, backed by the Austrian EU Presidency, launched a project called "Café d'Europe". 27 cafés in 27 European capitals have held coffeehouse discussions with writers and the public to discuss European issues. The details from Radio Prague.