Malta will assume the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January, the first time since its accession to the EU in 2004. This comes at a difficult period in European integration, and Malta will have to play the role of an honest broker in order to find consensus and achieve agreements in the Council of Ministers and with the European Parliament. The Maltese Presidency will also face many internal and external challenges related to migration, the fight against terrorism, modernising the single market and the review of the EU’s multi-annual financial framework.

In addition, the EU has launched a process aimed at clarifying how the Union should proceed in the years to come. Following the objectives laid down in the Bratislava Declaration, the Maltese Presidency will help to achieve the aim of offering citizens “a vision of an attractive EU they can trust and support”. At this briefing, Parliamentary Secretary for the EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds Dr Ian Borg set out the priorities of the Maltese Presidency and addressed some of the key challenges ahead.