The return to Lisbon

As Portugal takes over the EU’s rotating presidency, the Mediterranean region moves up the Union’s agenda. Simon Taylor reports.

If EU leaders can agree the outline of a new treaty by this weekend (23 June), then the custom of having rotating presidencies of the EU could come to an end in 2009. Portugal’s forthcoming presidency might prove to be one of the last chances to experience the shift in policy priorities that each six-monthly presidency brings when it takes over the running of the EU.

Speaking in May, Luís Amado, Portugal’s urbane foreign minister went so far as to suggest a complete refocusing of the EU’s attention away from the post-Cold War challenges of enlargement to the Union’s southern Mediterranean flank and Africa. The Portuguese want to deal with the region through a range of different policies, including border controls and the fight against illegal immigration. An EU-Africa summit in December is supposed to agree a joint strategy of closer economic and political ties. But the Portuguese will not be able to avoid dealing with a number of tricky post-Cold War issues, including the status of Kosovo and the ongoing difficult relations with Russia.

The government in Lisbon also wants to strengthen the EU’s links with Brazil. If, as seems likely, there is no breakthrough in world trade liberalisation talks, then making progress on free trade deals with Brazil, India and other developing countries may go some way to compensate.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a seafaring nation, Portugal wants to concentrate on maritime policy and agree a specific strategy building on the European Commission’s green paper on this subject. Water, or the lack of it, will be another key area for the Portuguese.

Other priorities including taking stock of progress under the Lisbon Agenda, which was launched under Portugal’s last presidency in 2000, and thinking about the future of the EU’s internal market policy.

The Portuguese also want to focus on policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises, which is no surprise since they face difficulties with competition from imports as a result of globalisation.

Despite the presidency’s desire to draw its partners’ attention to its regional and policy priorities, a large part of its workload is pre-determined by the EU’s work programme. The major items on the agenda will be starting work on the legislation for the ambitious energy sector targets agreed in March, as well as the start of negotiations on the follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol at international climate-change talks in Bali in December.

As Portugal takes over the EU’s rotating presidency, the Mediterranean region moves up the Union’s agenda. Simon Taylor reports.