Prior to the regular TEPSA Pre-Presidency Conferences, TEPSA has a tradition of formulating recommendations to present to the incoming Council Presidency. At the Spanish Pre-Presidency Conference on 1-2 June 2023, TEPSA will present key recommendations to the incoming Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. These recommendations are formulated by experts from the TEPSA network, without necessarily representing the views of TEPSA or its Member Institutes.
In addition to the introduction penned by TEPSA Board Members Nicoletta Pirozzi (Institute of International Affairs), Richard Youngs (Carnegie Europe), and Ilke Toygür (University Carlos III of Madrid), the Spanish Presidency has been presented with three detailed recommendations:
- “The Spanish Presidency should maintain momentum in EU enlargement”, Frank Schimmelfennig (ETH Zürich)
- “Reacting to economic challenges, striving for low-carbon industry”, Michele Chang (College of Europe) & Marco Siddi (Finnish Institute of International Affairs & TEPSA Board Member);
- “New approaches and narratives to the relations between the EU and CELAC”, Jakob Hallgren (Swedish Institute of International Affairs) & Anna Ayuso (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs).
The main message of the TEPSA Recommendations is that “As Spain takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in July, the main dossiers opened by the Russian aggression on Ukraine – from economic sovereignty to energy security, from defence capabilities to enlargement – are gathering in importance and complexity. In addition, the Union will be busy with the reform of its economic and financial rules, the implementation of the Next Generation EU package, as well as the fraught operationalization of its strategic autonomy. As if all this were not enough, a new electoral cycle will soon start in preparation for European Parliament (EP) elections and renewal of the EU’s top jobs next year.“