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2017 Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union

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Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Logo of the 2017 Maltese presidency
1 January – 30 June 2017
Council of the European Union
Websitehttps://eu2017.mt
Presidency trio
← Slovakia
Estonia →

Malta held the presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first half of 2017.[1] The presidency was the last of three presidencies making up a presidency trio, which began with the presidency of the Netherlands, followed by that of Slovakia.[2][3] It was the first time Malta had held the presidency.[4][5]

Overview

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The Maltese presidency opened with the intent to focus on six areas of interest: (1) expanding the European single market, (2) fostering growth in the maritime sector, (3) helping neighbouring countries with their development, (4) implementing rules regarding asylum and immigration, (5) improving interstate cooperation regarding criminal justice and external borders, and (6) reducing social discrimination.[6][7] The presidency was also tasked with dealing with the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union (Brexit), after the formal notification of the intent to withdraw was received in March.[4][8]

After the family of Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat faced a number of allegations in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal, Muscat opted to call a snap election a year before his term was scheduled to end.[9][10] Although Muscat won the election, which was held in June, the decision to call an early election was not looked upon favourably by leaders in the European Union.[5][11][12]

At the end of the term, Politico Europe remarked that the Maltese presidency "turned out to be rather good".[5] The review gave the Maltese presidency full marks on the topic of Brexit, where the presidency kept the 27 countries negotiating against the United Kingdom unified, and on the topic of fisheries, where an agreement was made over a matter that had been open for more than a decade.[5]

During a plenary session of the European Parliament in July, only a few dozen members showed up to review the Maltese presidency, leading European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker to call the legislative body "ridiculous" for not giving the presidency of Malta, the smallest member state of the union, the same respect it would for those of larger countries.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "List of presidencies of the Council of the European Union". Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 2023-07-31. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  2. ^ "Communique of the Netherlands-Slovakia-Malta Presidency Trio". Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic. 2015-11-05. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  3. ^ "Dutch, Slovak Prime Ministers in Malta for EU presidency talks". Times of Malta. November 4, 2016.
  4. ^ a b https://aei.pitt.edu/97568/1/DP-C244-2017_Borg.pdf
  5. ^ a b c d "Malta's EU presidency: How it went". Politico Europe. 2017-06-30. Archived from the original on 2023-09-28. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  6. ^ "The priorities of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU". Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 2022-09-01. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  7. ^ Gotev, Georgi (2016-11-23). "Maltese Presidency unveils logo, priorities". Euractiv.
  8. ^ Herszenhorn, David (2017-03-29). "Accepting Brexit notice, Donald Tusk warns EU law still applies to UK". Politico Europe. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  9. ^ "Malta PM Joseph Muscat calls snap general election". BBC. 2017-05-01. Archived from the original on 2024-01-07. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  10. ^ "Snap elections over Panama Papers scandal shake up Malta's EU presidency". Euractiv. 2017-05-02. Archived from the original on 2024-01-07. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  11. ^ Scicluna, Chris (2022-06-04). "Maltese PM Muscat wins second term in snap election". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  12. ^ "Malta's Muscat Wins Snap General Election". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2017-06-04. Archived from the original on 2022-08-16. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  13. ^ "Jean-Claude Juncker calls near empty European Parliament 'ridiculous'". Deutsche Welle. 2017-07-05. Archived from the original on 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
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