Suchergebnisse

The Secretary of State for European Affairs, Manuel Lobo Antunes, writes about the Portuguese mandate as President of the European Council in the second semester of 2008. Portugal's role should be evaluated taking into consideration the objectives previously defined as the main priorities for the Presidency, namely the successful conclusion of the new European Union Treaty, signed in Lisbon last December. Also, the Portuguese Presidency was host to the first summit between the EU & Brazil & was able to bring together the EU & African Union leaders at the EU Africa summit. Adapted from the source document.

Next July, Portugal undertakes the Presidency of the European Union. The purpose of this article is to anticipate the main challenges that the Portuguese presidency will face, rather than describing the exact content of its agenda. In the field of external relations, Portugal will try to promote the dialogue between Europe & the wider world through the Africa & Brazil summits. The negotiations of the Constitutional Treaty, Turkey's accession to the EU & the continuous enlargement process will be treated as critical issues to the future of the European project. Since the ED cannot be just a free trade area with a certain number of common policies, the Portuguese presidency is committed to the reinforcement of the social pillar of the Lisbon Strategy, in order to strengthen Europe's economic cohesion. Adapted from the source document.