THE PORTUGUESE PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EU IN JUSTICE
OUR PRIORITIES "Justice is today one of the most relevant areas in the context of the European Union."
O
n 1 January 2021, Portugal will begin its six-month Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It will do so for the fourth time. It has had this role, for the first time, in 1992, under the motto "Towards the European Union", and it was during the six months in which it headed the Council that not only the Treaty on European Union was signed, although in the Dutch city of Maastricht, but also the Porto Treaty, which created the European Economic Area. Eight years later, Portugal was, for the second time, at the helm of the Council, under the motto "Europe at the threshold of the 21st century". This Presidency was marked by the adoption of the Lisbon Strategy, by the 1st EU-Africa Summit and by the opening of the Intergovernmental Conference on the institutional reform of the European Union. It has been already thirteen long years ago that, for the last time, Portugal led the Council, this time under the motto “A stronger Union for a better world�, which was marked by the signing of the Treaty that would have the name of the Portuguese capital, and by the first summit between the European Union and Brazil. The success story of the previous Presidencies places a demanding burden on the work that will take place between 1 January and 30 June 2021. Faced with the unstable and extraordinary scenario posed by the pandemic, the challenges ahead will require a double effort of coordination, organisation and adaptation, so that the major objectives set for the first half of 2021, (a resilient, social, green, digital and global Europe) can be properly achieved and implemented.
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