Trio Presidency of the European Union 2010-2011 : Meeting of the Secretaries of State

Mr. Diego LOPEZ GARRIDO, Secretary of State for the European Union of Spain, Mr. Gábor IVÁN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary and Mr. Olivier CHASTEL, Belgium's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of the Presidency preparation have met today at the Egmont Palace in Brussels in order to discuss the "Trio presidency" of the European Union to be held by the three Member States between 01.01.2010 and 30.06.2011.

"Trio Presidency" of the European Union 2010-2011 : Meeting of the Secretaries of State Brussels, May 8th, 2008 Mr. Diego LOPEZ GARRIDO, Secretary of State for the European Union of Spain, Mr. Gábor IVÁN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary and Mr. Olivier CHASTEL, Belgium's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of the Presidency preparation have met today at the Egmont Palace in Brussels in order to discuss the "Trio presidency" of the European Union to be held by the three Member States between 01.01.2010 and 30.06.2011. Designed as a first informal contact between the colleagues following the recent inaugurations of new governments in Belgium and in Spain, the meeting allowed preliminary exchanges of view on the timetable of the preparation of the 18 months Presidency, on the way the three Member States would co-operate between themselves and with the other institutions and stakeholders, and on the main agenda items to be expected in the framework of existing EU programmes, strategies and bilateral relationship and partnership processes. Even though the system of 18 months Presidency programmes is independent from the Lisbon Treaty (cfr. the 2006 EU Council's Rules of Procedure), the Secretaries of State are conscious that a successful and timely ratification process would make Spain, Belgium and Hungary the first "Trio" to take office under the new institutional provisions and to be confronted with the specific challenge of implementing the new modalities in an effective and innovative manner. Convinced that the three Member States have a shared political responsibility to achieve the goals of the Trio Presidency, the Secretaries of State have agreed to continue a close cooperation throughout the preparations for their Trio and to seek continuous consultations among themselves on issues of particular relevance therefore.