In two weeks time Greece takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union  for the next six months.  In three years time it will be Malta’s  turn to assume this very important role for the first time since we became full EU members ten years ago.  Three years seem to be relatively a long time but for my Secretariat, which is responsible for the organisation of the EU Presidency in 2017, this appointment is considered as being round the corner.

A few days ago I spoke during the Adjournment motion in Parliament and informed my fellow Members of Parliament, and in turn the general public, about the work carried out thus far in connection with our Presidency.  I also took the opportunity to announce the appointment of two senior officials with many years of experience in the public and diplomatic service who will take charge of the programming and logistical aspects respectively of our EU Presidency in 2017.

As I stated in the House, in actual fact, our involvement with the work of the EU Presidency starts on the 1 January 2016 when The Netherlands assumes this responsibility being the first Member State of the Trio which, apart from Malta, includes also Slovakia. 

Perhaps it is appropriate at this point to elaborate why we no longer make reference to the Troika of the Presidency but speak about the Trio because many people still get confused and mention the Troika when they mean the Trio of the EU.

The Troika originally referred to the Member State holding the Presidency of the Council together with the Member State which had held the Presidency in the previous six months and the Member State which would be holding the Presidency in the next six months.

Since the Lisbon Treaty which entered into force in 2009, the national rotating presidencies of the EU are divided into groups of three and that is why they are referred to as the Trios.  One of the objectives of this arrangement is to ensure consistency in the work of the Council over an 18-month period.  Malta is in a Trio with the Netherlands and Slovakia. The Netherlands will hold the Presidency before Slovakia while Malta takes over when the Slovak Presidency ends on 31 December, 2016.  

Already, early in the new year, our Trio will hold its first formal meeting in Slovakia to start working on the draft programme of the Trio Presidency.  The programme determines the overall agenda for the Council's work for the 18 months the Trio lasts. On the basis of this programme, each of the three presiding countries prepares its own more detailed six-month programme which in our case lasts from 1 January till 30 June 2017.

Unlike the national Presidency programmes, it is a requirement that the Trio Presidency programme is approved by the Council. The programme is not only the Trio's programme, but the work programme of the whole Council. The work programme lists the areas and major issues that will be addressed by the Council during the Trio Presidency.

With respect to the programming aspect of our work I have launched a series of consultation meetings with my fellow Cabinet colleagues to discuss and identify the various Committees and Working Parties falling within the different Council formations that Malta would be required to chair both in Brussels and in Malta.  You may not believe it but these run into hundreds. 

We also need to decide about the number of Informal Ministerial meetings which will be held in Malta. On average, twelve Informal Ministerial meetings are held in the country hosting the Presidency. 

A number of organisations and NGOs are also expected to use our Presidency in the first half of 2017 as a platform to convene meetings during our six months thus attracting hundreds if not thousands of delegates to our shores. 

Between now and the beginning of our Presidency we will be facing several challenges, not least in identifying and training our civil servants especially those that are expected to be entrusted with the chairmanship of the various meetings.  Around €2 million EU funds have been allocated to train our public servants on various aspects of the EU in order to improve our capacity when dealing with the EU institutions.

Another challenge is the anticipation and planning of the organizational and logistical requirements on a scale that Malta has not experienced before. 

Whatever the challenge, we are confident that our civil servants will rise to the occasion as they have done in the past.  As they did during Malta’s negotiations to join the EU I am sure that they will do the same during our six month Presidency.

But perhaps the most challenging aspect will be keeping the overall budget needed to finance this exercise to a reasonable level.  This is always of concern to EU Member States, big or small, when it is their turn to host the Presidency.  For example, Greece has already announced that it plans to have a low-cost budget even though this means spending around €50 million. In our case, we will do our very best not to overspend without compromising on the quality of our performance. Emphasis will be placed on achieving the best at the least possible cost.

Finally, in our electoral manifesto we promised to organize the Presidency on a bi-partisan level. True to our word I have invited the Nationalist Opposition for a meeting to brief them about the whole process before we launch a more open dialogue with civil society about what the EU Presidency in 2017 means for Malta and the Maltese people.  We plan to organize also several cultural activities in order to showcase and promote Malta overseas as well as with the hundreds of delegates and visitors that are expected to visit us during our Presidency. 

Dr. Ian Borg is the Parliamentary Secretary responsible for EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds.