EditSpeed bumps could impact Ireland’s upcoming EU Presidency
The Irish Government is anxious to build on the record of the past seven successful Irish presidencies
Even before the Irish Presidency gets underway on 1 July it has hit two ‘speed bumps’, writes Dick Roche.
EUalive’s columnist Dick Roche is a former Irish Minister for European Affairs. He played a key role in Ireland’s 2004 EU Presidency Programme.
Ireland’s 8th Presidency of the Council of the EU will run from 1 July until 31 December. The Irish Government is anxious to build on the record of past successful Irish presidencies. It has published an ambitious Presidency programme and allocated a significant budget of just under €300 million to see it through. However even before the Presidency starts on 1 July it has run into a couple of ‘speed bumps’.
A record of successful presidencies
Through a combination of hard work and good fortune previous Irish Presidencies have been associated with major EU developments.
The first Irish Presidency came just two years after Ireland joined the then EEC. It ran from January to June 1975.
The Presidency saw the first meeting of the European Council. Held in Dublin Castle on 10-11 March 1975, the meeting – in addition to its symbolic importance – produced agreements on the UK’s EEC budget contribution, on CAP and on dairy imports from New Zealand that helped British Prime Minister Harold Wilson to secure a victory in the June 1975 UK referendum where 67.2% of voters agreed that the UK would remain in the EEC.
The Presidency also saw sign off on the European Regional Development Fund, a priority for Ireland and on the now largely forgotten Equal Pay Directive.
Significant milestones were also reached during Ireland’s Second EEC Presidency which ran from July to December 1979. That Presidency came immediately after the first direct elections to the EU Parliament. It important role in establishing the relationship between the Council and the directly elected EU Parliament. That Presidency came immediately after the first direct elections to the EU Parliament and played an important role in establishing the relationship between the Council and the directly elected EU Parliament. It also saw the launch of the European Monetary System and helped steer the EMS through its early phase.
The UK budgetary contribution to the EEC was back on the agenda during Ireland’s second presidency. The European Council of November 1979, meeting again in Dublin Castle, was dominated by intensive negotiations over the UK’s budgetary contributions with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher demanding the UK’s “money back “.
During Ireland’s 1984 Presidency, which ran from July through December the EU faced two challenges, addressing issues that needed resolution ahead of Spain and Portugal’s EEC entry and agreeing a programme to address severe famine in horn of Africa.
An EU Council, again held in Dublin Castle, reached agreement on the EU budget and on wine production, clearing the way for Spain and Portugal’s EEC entry on 1 January 1976. A €25 million funding package – modest by today’s terms – was agreed to assist with the famine in Ethiopia and the Sahel. The Dooge Committee established during Ireland’s third presidency played a key role in framing the 1987 Single European Act.
Ireland’s fourth EU Presidency ran from January to June 1990. The EU Council of 28th April 1990, the Dublin Summit, “warmly welcomed German unification”. The Presidency also launched the Intergovernmental Conferences that paved the way to the Maastricht Treaty. During the Presidency the European Environment Agency was formally established.
The highlight of the fifth Irish Presidency – July to December 1996 – was the consensus reached at the December Dublin European Council on fiscal rules that cleared the way for creation of the EU Stability and Growth Pact – the Pact itself was formally adopted at the Amsterdam European Council in June 1997. The same EU Council adopted the “Dublin II draft” that formed the basis of the Treaty of Amsterdam. It also saw the launch of the design for the Euro banknotes.
Ireland’s Sixth EU Presidency which ran from January to June 2004 coincided with the largest expansion of the EU. On 1 May 2004 Ireland hosted the ceremony that officially welcomed 10 new member states into the EU.
In addition to the excitement of the ‘Day of Welcomes,’ the sixth Irish Presidency also saw consensus reached at the EU Council meeting of 17-18 June 2004 on the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. The draft treaty was abandoned after its rejection by the voters of France and the Netherlands in referendums in 2005.
The sixth Irish Presidency also saw progress on the Regulation to create Frontex. The Regulation was formally adopted during Dutch Presidency in October 2004.
The seventh Irish Presidency which ran from January to June 2013, was the first Irish Presidency conducted under the institutional changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty., it had few ‘stand out’ moments. The Presidency, referred to as the ‘recovery Presidency’ saw Ireland exit the EU/IMF bailout. It also saw progress on the creation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) aimed at preventing future financial crises and saw progress on CAP ‘reform’.
Bureaucratic, top down and generic
The institutional changes that came into effect following the application of the Lisbon Treaty significantly diluted the impact of individual member states in setting the EU agenda. The Chairs of the European Council and the Foreign Affairs Council no longer ‘rotate’ amongst member states. The EU Council is chaired by the President of the European Council. The Foreign Affairs Council is chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
The process of preparing Presidency programmes has become heavily bureaucratised and ‘top down.’ As a result the role of the individual member state in setting the direction of the Presidency has been very significantly diluted. The opportunity for any member state, particularly a small, medium or more recent member state to ‘make its mark’ through a Presidency has effectively disappeared.
Presidency programmes now go through a long bureaucratic process in search of consensus. In that process the priorities of the Commission are absorbed and dominate the programmes that emerge.
This is reflected in the 65-page Programme for the eighth Irish Presidency. While the document, is well laid out and very detailed: the language is more ‘Brussels’ than “Dublin’.
Competitiveness, values and security
The Programme focuses on ‘three pillars’ competitiveness, values and security.
On competitiveness the programme commits to reducing red tape, deepening the single market, strengthening trade and resilience, accelerating the EUs energy transition and to investing in innovation particularly in AI and skills.
Commitments under the EU values heading include “defending democracy and the rule of law” supporting Ukraine, engagement in support of lasting peace and security in the Middle East, promoting human rights and the rule of law, strengthening online safety, combating ‘disinformation and harms’ and supporting EU enlargement.
On security the programme aims to address geopolitical, cyber, energy and migration -related challenges. This includes, strengthening defence cooperation, supporting Ukraine, enhancing cybersecurity, protecting infrastructure and supply chains, improved preparedness for crisis management addressing migration and border management, combatting organised crime and improving energy security.
The commitments under all three headings are important. Together they constitute an important programme for the EU. It is, however, stretching it to describe the process that runs for the eighteen months starting on 1 July as an Irish, Lithuanian, or Greek programme. The only uniquely ‘Irish’ elements in the Programme are a brief reference to the Irish language and a ‘County Pairing Initiative’ which will ‘twin’ each of Ireland’s 26 counties with a specific member state to bring EU Ambassadors into local communities to discuss the EU’s impact on everyday life.
Two speed bumps
Even before the Irish Presidency gets underway on 1 July it has hit two ‘speed bumps’.
The first is the thorny question of exports of alumina produced by Aughanish Alumina, Europe’s largest bauxite refinery, based in County Limerick on Ireland’s west coast. Aughanish Alumina is owned by the Russian company UC Rusal, the world’s second largest aluminium producer. It has been the focus of controversy following investigative media reports that the bulk of the alumina produced at the plant is exported to Russia where it plays an important role in Russia’s arms production.
While the company or its alumina are not currently subject to EU sanctions there are growing demands from within the EU Parliament and from some member states that such exports should be sanctioned.
Kaja Kallas’s Dublin visit: Ireland faces heat over aluminium exports to Russia
The controversy poses a dilemma for the Irish government – which has described the possibility of sanctions on Aughanish as potentially “devastating” and “self-defeating” – for the EU Commission and for the incoming Presidency.
Another political issue that could distract the Irish Presidency is a developing row about Ireland’s ‘triple lock mechanism’. The mechanism, introduced in the 1960s determines the conditions under which members of the Irish Defence Forces can be deployed on missions outside Ireland.
Under the triple lock members of Ireland’s defence forces can only be deployed outside the state as part of a peacekeeping or peace enforcement operation which has received UN approval, is supported by a decision of the Irish Government and where deployment has been approved by a vote in Dail Eireann, the Irish Parliament.
The Irish Government has proposed making two changes to the triple lock mechanism. It wants to remove the requirement for UN approval and wishes to increase the number of troops that can be deployed without a Dail vote from 12 to 50.
These proposals – prompted by ongoing EU security discussions – have run into significant political opposition in Ireland. Opposition parties and groups in Dáil Éireann have strongly opposed the Government’s proposals. The current President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly strongly supports the triple lock describing it as “at the core” of Irish neutrality. The President has the right to refer any Bill to the Supreme Court to determine its constitutionality before signing it into law.
In recent days, members of the Taoiseach’s party have publicly flagged their opposition to the proposed changes. On 23 June, under pressure from members, the Taoiseach was forced to announce that the debate on the Government amendment proposals would be pushed back until the autumn. This hiatus means that the Irish government will not be in a position to support any EU proposal that could impact on the triple lock for the coming months and in all probability for the duration of the Irish Presidency – not a good start for any Presidency.
Caption: The Dublin Castle has been the venue of important meetings held under the previous Irish presidencies [VisitDublin]
Updated: June 25, 2026 - 06:23
