On 17 June 2020, Croatia officially passed on the baton for the EU Council Presidency in the field of statistics to Germany. At the same time, Romania, Finland and Croatia handed over the Trio Presidency to Germany, Portugal and Slovenia. The handover meeting was attended by the respective Chairs of the Council Working Party and the Council Presidency Teams of the two Trio Presidencies, as well as by Mr. Gallo Gueye, Deputy Director-General of Eurostat. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Council Presidency Teams met via video conference – which is quite common practice in corona times – from six different countries and a variety of locations.
The Trio Presidency partners Romania-Finland-Croatia looked back on the last one and a half years and the results achieved in the Council Working Party on Statistics. The outgoing Croatian Chair passed over the legislative acts under negotiation to the German Chair. In addition, the Council Presidency Teams seized the opportunity to exchange experiences, tips, and expectations towards the presidency. Germany thanked the Croatian government for their outstanding commitment in the last six months in the face of the unforeseeable and very special challenges.
The trio of Germany-Portugal-Slovenia then presented the work programme and the priorities of their Trio Presidency as well as the plans and expectations of the individual trio partners. The programme of the future German Presidency will focus on the lessons learned from the corona crisis. Despite the challenging circumstances, Germany will make every effort to advance the work of the Council Working Party on Statistics as far as possible, while supporting the further development of important current topics within the European Statistical System. The German Council Presidency Team is looking forward to an exciting EU Council Presidency and good cooperation.
German Presidency Programme on Statistics (PDF, 119KB, File meets accessibility standards)